


J 3:16

by drostste7



Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-08
Updated: 2016-04-11
Packaged: 2018-05-19 03:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 51,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5951722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/drostste7/pseuds/drostste7
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This is how we know what love is... And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters," she muttered. "Nee-chan?" Naruto's eyes widened nervously. Eri opened her eyes and smiled bitterly at her otouto. "I love you, Naruto." Then, without waiting to hear his response, she jumped.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an amazing beta, who goes by the name winteralley. Please check her work out on AO3! It's also about an OC, and is definitely worth a read.

She was being squished to death. The soft, surrounding walls of muscle contracted around her, pushing her left and right. She wanted to move, to jump, to _escape_ —and escape she did. She slowly slid out of her pouch, her head first to be hit by the cold outside air. The rest of her body followed the next second. But despite being free from the pouch, _she couldn’t fucking breathe_.

Her heart hammered in her chest. She tried to breathe, to inhale through her nose, but nothing happened. She opened her mouth instead, and quickly realized what a big mistake that was. Something was shoved into her mouth, down her throat, and she reflexively gagged, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes. The pipe vanished for a second, and reappeared in her left and right nostrils. The process repeated until finally, the blockage in her throat was removed.

As soon as she felt all was clear, she gathered a ton of air into her lungs and cried. Everything was just so confusing and bewildering, and her throat and chest burned in pain.

The bright lights flaring above her didn’t help as they made her eyes water. As she continued to cry, she finally began to hear the voices and sound of the people around her. Who were these people? Why was she here? Where was she? _And why did they sound so goddamn happy?_

The chuckles around her died down, and she felt herself in the arms of someone else. It was a very strange sensation. As a 23 year old, she wasn’t someone easy to carry—and she certainly didn’t remember being this small. She found herself wrapped warmly by a blanket. When she inhaled—without difficulty, this time—she found herself surrounded by a familiar scent of nature. Her cries immediately died down as she breathed in the smell of dew and pine.

A woman cried softly from nearby, and the girl found herself being given to the woman. The girl had never heard this woman’s voice before, but found herself comforted by the smell of something spicy and citrus, as well as the soft cooes. The girl moved to get closer to the woman, who let out a sound of pleasant surprise.

The woman’s chest rumbled as she said something in a language the girl did not understand. A man, the one with the smell of wood, replied back. Both sounded incredibly happy. A sarcastic old woman said something, and the two couple laughed. The girl automatically smiled, though she didn’t know why; she just liked the sound of the two people’s laughter.

A soft hand brushed against the girl’s cheek, and the girl leaned into the touch. The woman let out a soft sigh, and said something that the girl could not understand. But for some reason, the girl got the feeling that the woman was saying loving things.

* * *

 

The girl was rarely properly conscious the next couple of days. This was very frustrating to her; she wanted to stay awake and observe where she was, and who the people around her were. But, alas, she seemed to only wake up when she was hungry, which seemed to be every two hours, or when she had soiled herself. The latter part was humiliating for her, no matter how often it occurred. But the woman who changed her diapers every day made the experience less embarrassing by lacking any intention to ridicule.

Frequently, the woman and man took turns holding and speaking to her. At first, the girl was surprised and somewhat scared by how aggressively they approached her. But eventually, she became incredibly amused by the two grown ups making strange faces and sounds. And she smiled, more for their sake than hers, to reassure them that their efforts were not wasted. She later finally concluded that the two people were very handsome and beautiful, their bright hair contrasting wonderfully.

In the next couple days, the girl began to realise that the two couple were her ‘parents’, and that she was supposedly a newborn. She did not understand how the hell that was possible, seeing as she could still remember herself being 23 years old. But after seeing her tiny body in the mirror, she couldn’t deny it; she had been ‘reincarnated.’ The very thought of it scared her, and she frequently cried whenever she saw mirrors. And from then onwards, mirror were banned throughout the entire house.

But the girl was unable to come up with any rational explanations for this bizarre situation, so she just decided to accept her fate. After all, that must’ve been what brought her here, right? Fate.

The girl could not remember much of her past life, besides her having been 23 and living in California. She did not remember her parents or siblings. Hell, she couldn’t even remember her name. Whenever she tried to think back, all she could ‘see’ were a blur of people moving around, and the seemingly busy atmosphere of the people around her. Actively trying to recall her ‘past life’ (as she decided to call it) always left her with a dull headache, so she did not indulge in the practice too often.

One thing she _did_ remember, however, was her love for anime, or Japanese cartoons. She came to the conclusion that her previous love for anime was the reason why she’d been born as a Japanese—so she could appreciate her passion in its native language.

Soon, the girl learned that her name in this world was Namikaze eRi. Her parents, Kushina and Minato—as she had gathered from her short span of consciousness—were very intent on calling her this every time they picked her up for a hug or kiss. It seemed they really wanted her to recognise the name. She humoured them often, and turned her head or looked towards whoever called for her by that name. Their responses to this were most amusing; the two’s face split with a wide smile, and they both let out a sound of glee.

At some point, _Eri_ realised that the Japanese names seemed very, _very_ familiar to her, but she just couldn’t remember how or why they seemed so familiar. Instead, she accepted this new fact, just as she did of the other strange things in her new world, and waited for her vocal cords to develop so she could properly talk to her parents one day.

And speaking of strange things, the girl noticed something cloudy in the air, in herself, and in her parents. The mists had colors unique to each person. The ones around her father and her mother—which were very concentrated and strong—were light blue and soft pink, respectively. The mists’ lights flickered on and off, but seemed to get stronger and more vivid whenever either of them felt intense emotions. Interestingly, her mother’s mist seemed incredibly concentrated and tinted red near her belly. Eri could not see the mist within herself, but she could feel it inside her veins and arteries, traveling from the bottom of her tiny toes to the top of her bulging head. It was easy to ignore, most of the time, because it seemed to be a part of her, just as her blood, her bones, and her muscle were.

The mist around her, however, seemed to be an entirely different story. For starters, the color itself was different. In the girl’s room, there was not much of the mist, though the quantity seemed to be amplified whenever she stayed still. She observed this phenomenon, but could not find a way to inform her parents of her strange disorder. This strange ability did entertain her in the times her inability to communicate with others—or do anything physical, for that matter—frustrated her. Although her mother stayed at home most of the time, she did not stay with Eri 24/7 unless Eri needed food or new diapers, which Eri did not blame her for; Eri was a boring child who couldn't even talk and slept most of the time. But being stuck inside the body of a newborn with the mind of a conscious adult was hell in and of itself.

When she _was_ awake and fully conscious, Eri was stuck staring at the ceiling, reciting lyrics of songs she could vaguely remember, going over old fairy tales to entertain herself, or drifting off to sleep, as per usual. When she got sore hips from lying down in one position for too long, she would cry, and her mother would come and flip her. If Eri was lucky, her mother stayed for an hour or two to read her a book before leaving the room, probably to get some beauty sleep.

Despite the somewhat strong connection Eri had with her mother and father, she never truly loved them until three months after she had been “born”. Up until that day, Eri had only felt as though there was a bond between her and her parents because of chemical reactions that occurred in her brain. Otherwise, there was no reason for a 23 year old to love these “strangers”.

On the dark, chilly, and cold night, Eri had, for reasons unbeknownst even to her, began to cry. She did not know why. She was not hungry, and she had not soiled herself. The only way she could define this feeling would be _homesickness_. She was homesick, but for what, even she herself didn't know.

Her mother quickly stumbled in, alert but still slightly sluggish from being asleep only a couple minutes ago, and dragged herself to Eri’s bed. Kushina gently lifted up Eri to feed her, but Eri pushed her breasts away, and continued to cry. Kushina sighed, and laid Eri back down in her crib to check the her diapers, only to let out a groan of frustration when she saw it was still clean. Eri had not stopped crying, and she watched Kushina’s face slowly turn from pale to bright red.

Kushina shouted something long and unintelligible, and in response, Eri stopped her wailing, and began to watch her mother with some morbid kind of curiosity. Kushina’s face paled, and her eyes welled with tears. Immediately, Minato ran into the room, looking for the source of the shouting. He looked from Kushina to Eri, and walked over to Kushina and laid his hand on her shoulder gently. This only prompted Kushina to begin sobbing uncontrollably, and to hide her face behind her hands.

Eri reached out her palms for her mother, and when Kushina saw this, she only seemed to cry harder. Slowly, Kushina reached out and clasped Eri tightly in her chest, and gave her a tight squeeze. When Eri looked up and saw Kushina’s expression, filled with such remorse, sadness, and love, Eri felt overwhelmed. Something in her chest squeeze tightly. She clasped onto her mother’s hand, and squeezed it tightly, trying to send the message _I know. I love you too_ . Then, she felt a soft hand brush her hair, and she looked at Minato, who was looking at her with love of the same quantity and quality. When Eri finally understood how much love these two people had for her—for _her_ —her chest swelled, and her palms dampened with sweat.

That night, Kushina brought Eri to the larger room, and the three of them—Kushina, Eri, and Minato—fell asleep on one bed. As Eri stared at her staring mother’s face and felt the heat of her father’s chest, she firmly decided she loved these two people, and she forever would.

After that day, the monotonous days continued, with Minato visiting her less and less. Eri missed her father, but Kushina did a great job of keeping her entertained—most of the time.

* * *

 

One day, Kushina finally had deemed Eri to be fit and healthy enough, she dressed Eri in warm clothes, and took her outside of the house for the first time.

When she left the small house, Eri was flabbergasted, to say the least. (There were so many people around her. How had she never seen them before? And good god, so many children, too!) Her gaze never left the faces of the children who passed by. But when any came near her, Eri, suddenly overwhelmed, shy, and nervous, hid her face in her mother’s breasts. Kushina responded by laughing and clutching the girl tighter to her chest.

Once Eri was brave enough to look back out at the world again, she saw herself and her mother in front of a strange red building. It loomed before her, and Eri hiccuped, as she now tended to do when she was scared. Kushina laughed again, softly this time. Once they were inside, Kushina led them up a spiral of stairs, down a couple hallways, and around so many twists and turns Eri’s head hurt. But when her mother and she stopped outside of a big, brown door, Eri calmed down.

Kushina opened the door by a tiny bit, and the two slid in. Eri was impressed by her mother’s ability to quietly slip in unnoticed. It was almost like her mother was a ninja. When Eri shifted her focus to the men in front of her, she was quite surprised. Both her father and a strange man were in an intense discussion, frowns pasted on both their faces. Eri tightened her clutches around the collar of her mother’s dress, finding the Minato in front of her strange. He no longer wore the light, joking face as he did when he played with her, and this scared Eri.

When Eri hiccuped, both men turned around in surprise. Eri stared as her father’s looks transformed from firm and stiff back to his usual soft features. She was relieved by this change, and decided she didn’t like her father’s other face very much. She turned to stare at an old man who had tan, brown hair, with numerous wrinkles and spots on his face. He was not very tall, only reaching her father’s shoulder in terms of height. But there was something strange about him… The brown mist radiating from his core drifted protectively around him. Eri’s heart thudded; she knew this man from somewhere! She did! But from where, or how, or when, Eri could not say.

Minato strode over to Kushina, giving her a kiss on her forehead. Eri pouted, craving her father’s attention, and stuck her arms out. Her father laughed lightly, and took Eri from Kushina, bouncing the child lightly on his hips. He walked Eri over to the old man, who was staring at the young girl with amusement and adoration.

“Eri-chan,” Minato said. He turned and pointed at the old man, and said,  “Hokage-sama.”

The Hokage chuckled, and waved his hand, as if dismissing Minato’s words. The Hokage said something, before pointing back at himself, and saying, “ojiji-chan.”

Eri smiled, until what her father said finally hit her. Hokage-sama? _Hokage-sama_? Eri’s mouth gaped a bit, and she looked from her father to the old man before the 23 year old mind finally grasped onto what this meant. Quickly, she looked outside, and saw on her left, very high in position, the Hokage Monument. Eri’s left eye twitched, and she hiccuped again.

How the hell had she missed _the three large-ass faces pasted on a mountain?_ And more importantly—she turned to stare at the badge on her father’s forehead, then at the symbol of ‘fire’, if her memory served her right, on the Hokage’s large hat—the signs around her that basically screamed ‘Konoha’?

Eri closed her eyes, and slowly reopened them to meet the eyes of an amused old man. But her attention was not on him or the spots on his face. Her attention was on the following truth: She was in the Narutoverse.

_…Well damn._

* * *

 

From that day onwards, Eri watched the people around her carefully, with reasons none other than because _she supposedly knew them._ As she laid in the crib in the living room, chewing on her prison bars, she watched her mother and father flirt incessantly with each other.

How had she missed it? How _had she missed this?_

Yes, in her defense, neither of her parents wore their shinobi outfits at home, and they certainly did not wear their headband—hitaesomethingorwhatever—at home. They never said the word ‘Konoha’, at least when she was around, and they had never taken her outside until that point.

But really? _Uzumaki Kushina and Namikaze Minato? They_ were her parents? Good god. Eri’s left eye twitched again.

Once again, Eri simply accepted the truth, and tried to move on.

 _Tried_ to.

With that realisation set, Eri finally understood how much of deep shit she was in. If her memory of this anime was correct—and when exactly had _that_ memory managed to resurface?—there would be various attacks on Konoha. And her parents would die in one of them. Just the thought of this made her heart thud violently and her stomach clench painfully. She couldn’t lose them. She couldn’t lose her parents _twice_. She had to prevent it from happening, and she needed a plan to make sure she could protect them. But how?

First of all, she actually needed to tell them about the dangers to come. This meant she was going to have to significantly increase the speed of her learning Japanese. She cringed at the thought; she had never been good at learning new languages.

Second, she needed to be a believable source. After all, who would in their right mind believe a baby? She needed to prove herself. And, from her memories, she recalled how respected prodigies were. Surely, it wouldn’t be surprising if the child of _Kushina and Minato_ was capable of speaking and walking and doing everything faster, would it? This put a smile on her face. Of course it wouldn’t. Her parents were strong, if not the strongest. No one could beat them.

Except Obito.

Immediately, the smile vanished from her face, and a frown was set in place. Right. There was that. The monster who managed to kill both her parents and attempted to take Naruto’s life— _Naruto_. Eri’s left eye twitched.

Naruto.

When was Naruto born?

That was it. That was the mark, the start of everything. She just had to watch out for Naruto’s birth—if things went as the canon had. But how would she know when Naruto was born? What if she had been born instead of Naruto? She felt horrified and embarrassed once she got over the brief euphoria of the possibility of having Minato and Kushina to herself. It wasn’t _right_ . Naruto needed to be born. This was his story, and Eri was very, _very_ determined to keep it that way. (She also revelled at the idea of having a little minion to have follow her around everywhere)

“Eri-chan,” her mother called, catching her attention. Kushina exchanged a look with Minato, who, with an equally nervous face, nodded. Eri’s mother turned back to Eri, pointed to herself, and said, “Okaa-chan.”

Kushina stared. And Eri stared back.

 _Oh_. ‘She wants me to say it back,’ Eri realised. But could she? How old was her body, anyways? Was that even possible?

Kushina broke off her stare, and sighed. She turned to speak with Minato, frowning in the process. Eri tried to calculate the days and months. The day she fell in love with her parents, the day she met the Hokage, the days spent thinking… She was almost, what, seven months old? Eight? She frowned. Didn’t babies usually start talking nonsense at twelve months old and—Eri attempted to groan, but only made a weird, moaning sound, catching her parents’ attention. Eri paid them no mind, and instead tried to smack her face in contempt.

‘I’m a ninja child,’ she thought bitterly. ‘Of course they’d expect me to start talking soon.’ Then, Eri had a brilliant idea.

She turned to her parents, and looked at Kushina expectantly. As expected, the red-haired jinchuriki repeated the word, “Okaa-chan!”

Eri opened her mouth, and tried to copy the sound. What resulted was a soft, “O-aa-chan.” Eri wanted to smack her face into the bars of her crib at how stupid she sounded, but restrained herself once she saw how Kushina’s face gleamed.

Then, before Minato could say anything, Eri turned to him and quickly said, “to-chan.”

The room was silent. Both Minato and Kushina attempted to veil how surprised they were, but Eri smugly enjoyed how shocked they were. She was going to be recognised as a prodigy one way or another, and if that meant shocking them into realising it, then shock them she would. Mission Prodigy had begun.

Minato and Kushina spoke to each other quickly, keeping their eye on Eri the entire time. She ignored them, and went back to chewing on the crib bars.

* * *

 

During the next couple of days, Minato and Kushina had bought around twenty books to read to her. When Eri pointed to a picture, Kushina told Eri the words, which Eri tried to engrave into her brain. And by the following month, Eri could say a couple words to communicate with her parents. Both seemed very happy with her progress, but Eri was not satisfied.

She needed to be able to converse with adults, but she certainly wasn’t learning necessary words like ‘international relations’ or ‘confederation’ any time soon. Nevertheless, Eri understood the importance of basics, and got to memorising more and more words. By the time Eri was a nine and a half months old, she could make very, _very_ short sentences. She acknowledged the fact that she had made a lot of progress, seeing as three months ago she didn’t even know the word for ‘hungry.’

But one thing that Eri couldn’t change, no matter how hard she really tried, was her abilities to walk or do anything physical. It seemed while her brain could process things at a much, much faster rate and remember words faster than the average baby, her body was still that of a nine month old. She couldn’t even stand up and walk by herself. She could sit up for a while before the weight of her own head dragged her down. The entire thing was ridiculous and frustrated Eri to her no end.

Still, she needed to investigate on the world around her, whether she could walk or not. Thus, on a chilly November day, she turned to her mother, who was sharpening her kunai, and called out loudly, “Ka-chan.”

Kushina, now used to the demands and calls of her (spoiled) daughter, turned and smiled at Eri. Eri’s heart skipped a beat. Her mother was so beautiful. “Yes, Eri-chan?”

“To-chan,” Eri exclaimed. “Go. To-chan.”

Kushina’s eyebrow quirked, but she smiled gently, “No, to-chan… team. Training. Team.”

Eri nodded enthusiastically, “Nn. Go! Eri, kaa-chan, go to-chan! Go training team.”

Kushina stared at her daughter, and the two held onto the staring match until Kushina gave up. If there was one thing that Eri was, it was stubborn. The girl, for some reason, would never take ‘no’ for an answer, having the resolve of a stubborn old man. “All right. In two minutes, ok?”

“Nn,” Eri confirmed, before focusing her attention back to the picture book filled with hiragana and katakana. The first day she had discovered katakana in books, she had been very surprised. She knew katakana was the Japanese alphabet for foreign words, and found it strange that a _Japanese ninja world with no contact with foreigners_ used this form of alphabet, but simply accepted it after a while.

True to her words, after two minutes, Kushina stood in front of Eri, a basket slung on one arm. Eri reached out for her mother, who effortlessly collected the child into her arms. Once the two left the house, they travelled at an insane speed from their home towards the training grounds.

Eri had long become accustomed to her parents’ speeds. On the first trip she had at such a speed, Eri had ended up being incredibly dizzy and confused. She eventually puked and cried, and her parents rushed her to a hospital. Later, they both were scolded by the Hokage, who screamed something along the lines of _What the hell were you thinking_ and _You idiot buffoon couple_. At least, that’s what Eri guessed the Sandaime had said. She hadn’t been very good at Japanese back then.

Finally, within ten minutes of running (that Kushina did), the two arrived at the edge of a training center. Eri could faintly hear thuds from farther inwards of the center, where the mother-daughter duo were walking towards. As soon as Kushina got close enough for Eri to see two children throwing kunai at a wooden post, there was a clang behind her mother, and Eri was flung backwards into her mother’s chest as Kushina leapt away. As always, Eri did what she was prone to do in confusing situations: she cried.

Immediately, Minato appeared before Kushina and cooed at Eri before picking her up and holding her in his arms. Eri stopped crying and smiled at her father. “To-chan!” She nuzzled her head against his neck, enjoying the familiar smell of pine.

Kushina cocked her eyebrows and crossed her arms, but smiled gently. “Eri _really_ wanted to see to-chan, ne? But Eri, come to kaa-chan. To-chan needs to train.” Eri pouted, but willingly returned to her mother’s grasp.

“Ah!” a loud voice shouted. “You scared her, Bakashi!”

Eri turned to look for the source of the voice, and was mildly surprised by what she found. A boy with spiky dark hair — _an Uchiha_ —jumped up and down. He wore ski goggles around his eyes, which were connected to orange ear mufflers _._ He jabbed a finger at another, silver-haired boy, whose lower half of his face was covered by a mask. The latter boy seemed positively bored, but Eri did not miss the way he eyed her curiously.

“Stop, Obito-kun,” a soft voice said. Eri turned to see a girl with short brown hair and purple streaks on each of her cheeks restraining the boy with the goggles. Slowly, Eri looked back at the silver-haired boy, the goggles, and the purple streaks.

“To-chan,” Eri called for her father’s attention. Minato looked down at her fondly. Eri slowly pointed at the children and asked, “Names?”

Minato chuckled, and shifted Eri to his other arm. “Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Obito, Nohara rin. And team, this is my daughter, Namikaze Eri.”

The three kids exchanged a strange look. Rin was the first one to approach Eri with a warm smile. “Hello,” the eleven year old held out a finger. “Nice to meet you, Eri-chan.”

Eri stared at the finger curiously, and slowly reached out to clasp onto it tightly. Eri smiled back, and said, “Hello.” Rin’s face brightened.

“Ooh, ooh!” Obito leapt over to Eri’s side, and pushed his index finger out, mimicking Rin. “Hello Eri-chan! I’m Obito!”

Eri stared at Obito. _This_ was the man who would kill her parents? A deep and dark fury rose within the deepest pits of her stomach, but it disappeared just as quickly as it rose. Eri grasped Obito’s finger and clenched it tightly, willing the hatred to come back just so she could hate him for the sake of hating a soon to be murderer—but nothing happened.

Eri sighed, and loosened her grip (which hadn’t been very tight in the first place, to be honest). Who was she kidding? She was 23 years old. She knew it wasn’t the kid’s fault. It was Madara’s manipulation, that sneaky I’m-never-going-to-die, cockroach bastard, who would change Obito. He didn’t deserve her hatred at the current moment. She eyed him cautiously, watching how he seemed nervous and confused by her prolonged hold. She gave him a lop-sided smile, “Hi, Obito.”

Obito smiled happily, and quickly whipped around to smirk at—wow, he was really small and different from her memory—Kakashi. Eri stared at the silver haired boy, who she knew would grow up to be one of the greatest ninjas in the world. The boy stared at her strangely, as if analysing her carefully, before he slowly walked over. He didn’t offer a finger for a shake. “Hi.”

Eri stared at Kakashi for a second before saying, “Hi Bakashi.” She could hear her father stifle a laugh, whereas Obito let out a loud laugh and Rin let out a small smile. Kakashi’s expression did not visibly change, though his eyes narrowed a bit. It probably wasn’t appropriate for a 23 year old to aggravate an 11 year old just because he’d shown less adoration, but as Eri had learned, she could get away with a lot of things just because she was a toddler.

“Now, to-chan needs to train,” Kushina chided Eri quietly, and shuffled over to a nice shady area. Kushina waved at Minato, and turned to Eri. “Sleep, baby,” she cooed. And Eri, as she always was tempted by that soft voice, allowed herself to lie in Kushina’s lap. But she didn’t hesitate to give Obito one last careful look before she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have an amazing beta, who goes by the name winteralley. Please check her work out on AO3! It's also about an OC, and is definitely worth a read.

The next few weeks proved to be interesting, to say the least. Minato was home less and less frequently because he and his team were out for brief missions. The missions themselves never lasted more than a couple of days, and Eri figured it was because Obito and Rin were still genin. She was glad that her father wasn’t gone for too long; while she did know he would survive the war, she didn’t know in what way she had messed with the canon timeline just by existing. She could only believe in Minato’s abilities as a shinobi, which, admittedly, wasn’t that hard. But still, that was her father out there, and she wanted him safe, in one whole piece.

Being with her mother definitely had its perks, though. Her vastly exaggerated body language made it easier for Eri to understand her. Sure, being surrounded by only Japanese 24/7 improved her language skills, but there was a limit to which Eri could understand, and she had to rely on body language for complicated things. Plus, her mother had the softest voice when reading stories to her, and Eri liked that best.

Sometimes, when Minato went on solo missions, and Kushina wanted--needed--time to herself, team 7 would come over to babysit Eri. The visits always excited her, because Rin was always more than willing to read to her, and Obito was easy to understand. Kakashi, on the other hand… Eri could theoretically understand why he hated her so much. He saw Minato as a surrogate father figure, and Eri taking away almost all of Minato’s attention infuriated him. But still, she didn’t know what exactly Kakashi wanted. He surely didn’t expect her father to ignore his own biological daughter in favor of another man’s child? The answer to that question, it seemed, would always remain a mystery. Though, when Kakashi was being an ass, as he was in the current moment, Eri figured the answer to that question was a sad  _ yes _ .

“It’s not that impressive,” the grey haired Hatake grumbled. He slouched further inwards, his crossed arms tense. Eri felt her eye twitch, and resisted the urge to strangle him with her puny arms.

“Cram it, Bakashi,” Obito growled, his eyebrows bunched together tightly. When he turned to Eri, his face relaxed into a natural smile. “Don’t listen to him, Eri-chan. Being able to read hiragana and katakana is amazing!” (Or so Eri presumed he’d said.) Recently, Eri noticed she had grown extremely fond of the optimistic child, whose voice seemed to get louder as time passed--not that she minded, of course. The toddler smiled back in response. Being with Obito was good practice for tolerating loud people, which she figured she’d need once Naruto was born.

“Yes, Eri-chan,” Rin nodded. “Not all eleven-month-olds can read so comprehensively. You must be a genius.” (Okay, so Eri might have made up the last two sentences, but Rin seemed like the kind of person who’d compliment a baby). 

Kakashi’s face scrunched up, beginning to resemble a bunched up wad of tissue. Though it was childish of her, Eri pointed at his face, smirked, and babbled, “Ninja rule!”

Obito and Rin smiled politely at her, as if they had completely understood the “nin-ah roo” mumble jumble (which Kushina and Minato always managed to decipher). Kakashi, on the other hand, understood her insult without other prompting. His face immediately ironed out into a poker face, reverting to what Shinobi Rule 250-or-the-other considered to be the most appropriate expression for shinobi to maintain at all times. But Eri could tell by the slightly reddish tint blooming across Kakashi’s cheeks that he was certainly and definitely embarrassed by being called out by a toddler. Eri smiled triumphantly, which did not go unnoticed by Kakashi. He almost broke his infamous mask of indifference (again, Eri might add) to sneer at her, until Obito stood up abruptly.

“It’s great to read and all, but I think we should all go out for some fresh air,” Obito suggested, stretching his arms and legs. “Look at how beautiful it is outside! It’s one of the best days Konoha has had in ages, and it’d be a waste to stay indoors. C’mon, Rin-chan, Eri-chan, let’s go outside.”

Rin seemed to agree with Obito, and reached to pick Eri up. Eri glanced through the windows of the living room, where the four of them had been for the past few hours. While she agreed with Obito on the importance of exercising and gaining muscle, she was still wary about putting her studies aside. She still considered ‘become fluent in Japanese’ and ‘be recognized as a prodigy’ to be her first and foremost goals, after all. But Rin didn’t seem to notice Eri’s internal turmoil as she scooped Eri into her arms, and slowly walked out the door, held open by Obito. 

“Come on, Kakashi-kun,” Rin called. 

Before Kakashi could say anything rude to Eri’s angel (aka Rin), Eri added, “Bakashi. Me. Mission. From tou-chan.” In other words,  _ Kakashi, you do realize your mission is to protect (and play) with me, assigned by your esteemed sensei and my loving father, right? _

Somehow, Kakashi seemed to understand her hidden threat as he trudged along gloomily. Eri wondered if it was a genius thing, to be able to decode baby babble.

Rin and Obito managed to distract Eri from her worry about not finishing  _ The Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja _ , and ran around slowly in civilian speed (for Eri’s sake, of course) to chase the giggling toddler around the garden. A couple of months ago, Eri would’ve been horrified to have to act like the baby she physically was, but over time, she’d found she didn’t really mind being babied by everyone around her. In fact, she adored the attention she received (though she’d never admit that aloud to anyone). It was nice to have someone she could rely on; she blamed this dependence on her psychology resulting from her inevitably defenseless body. While the three children ran around the front lawn, Kakashi took on the role of patrolling around the neighborhood streets, despite knowing they were completely safe after having been riddled with Kushina and Minato’s protective seals. Eri knew it was all just because he didn’t want to  _ degrade  _ himself by playing such childish games.

Almost an hour after they’d been playing a variation of ninja, chase, and hide-and-seek, Eri paused when she noticed an unfamiliar, cool green aura approaching the Namikaze home (Eri decided to call the mists ‘aura’ because why the hell not). When Obito and Rin saw the toddler still and stare intently at the incoming person, they too paused and squinted their eyes, trying to distinguish who was walking towards them. A second later, Kakashi shunshin-ed over (and boy, had it taken a long time for Eri to get used to that ninja technique without screaming in surprise). 

“He doesn’t have unfavorable intentions,” he quietly said. “Otherwise, Kushina’s seals would have fried him on the spot.”

Eri winced at Kakashi’s unrefined way of defining her mother’s seals, but she silently agreed with him. Her mother wasn’t exactly famous for being merciful to enemies on or off the battlefield, after all. If anything, Uzumaki Kushina  _ enjoyed _ watching her enemies (and even her husband sometimes, though him more out of jest) get physically or psychologically tortured.

When the man stopped before the group of four kids, Eri looked him up and down. He was familiar, in a strange way. He had long, silky, dark hair that reached far below his collarbone, highlighting his pale skin. He was tall, but slim. All of that combined with the sharp, goldish yellow eyes above his high cheekbones presented a cold kind of elegant beauty, one that made Eri stare in awe but also warned her of the man’s danger. She was certain she’d be able to tell who it was if she’d have more time to ponder about it--  
“Orochimaru-sama,” Kakashi mumbled as he bowed slightly. “To what do we owe the pleasure of your visit?”

\--aaaand of course it had to be Hatake who interrupted her train of thought. With the newfound knowledge, Eri regarded the snake summoner in a different light, scrutinizing everything about him from his body language to his clothes. But Eri stopped herself before getting too paranoid. She’d long since realized that just because someone was  _ capable _ of becoming a mass murdering, crazy sonovabitch didn’t mean they necessarily would. Obito was the prime example of that: Eri was going to prevent him from becoming Madara’s play thing, and she was pretty confident she was already having a positive influence on him. Orochimaru could simply be added to the collection.

But the man before her didn’t seem to be interested in any of the four children. Instead, he looked around impatiently, his gaze seemingly distant but oddly sharp. He was clearly searching for something that wasn’t there.

“Where is Uzumaki?” he asked no one in particular. 

“Here,” Eri called out automatically, raising her hand. Orochimaru turned to her slowly, his dark eyebrows cocked.

“And who are you?” he all but demanded.

“Namikaze Eri,” Eri replied confidently before the hesitant Rin could stop her. Then, just so she was sure Orochimaru understood, she added, “Uzumaki Kushina. My kaa-chan.”

Eri’s theory that geniuses could understand the barest of phrases was proven when Orochimaru snorted. “I can see the resemblance,” he muttered, and leaned in close to examine Eri. That was also when Eri felt Rin’s arms stiffen around her, and noticed Obito take a step forward, as though to put more space between Orochimaru and Rin. Even Kakashi seemed wary about how close the beautiful man was to Eri. Eri wanted to give all of them disapproving looks for the almost scared and worried way they were treating Orochimaru (especially Obito, because he really didn’t have the right to be suspicious of people-who-have-not-yet-sinned), but Orochimaru himself soon backed away.

“Irrelevant,” he declared, waving his hand dismissively. Eri’s left eye twitched at his dismissive behavior. This man wasn’t making a very good first impression (though she wasn’t sure if this even counted as a first impression, seeing as she had watched the anime). “So none of you know where Kushina is?”

“I believe you’d be able to find her with Mikoto-san,” Kakashi finally answered. 

“Hn,” Orochimaru grunted in annoyance (and wow,  _ that _ really must be a genius thing), before turning away. “Then I have no business here. When Kushina returns, be sure to inform her that I dropped by.”

With that, the arrogant man walked away. The four children stood in silence, waiting until the Sannin disappeared from their gaze, before Rin suggested that they go back indoors, as the sun was starting to set. Eri protested, finding it unfair that a creepy man had to disrupt their fun time outdoors, until a suspiciously well-timed yawn managed to crawl up her throat and escape. Kakashi rolled his eyes, before returning inside the home first. This time, Obito carried Eri as the remaining children entered the Namikaze household once more.

“Hungry,” Eri complained as Obito released her onto the same living room floor from before. 

“A shinobi can last a week without real proper nutrition,” Kakashi muttered under his breath. Eri’s eye twitched in annoyance.

Obito elbowed Kakashi, and turned to Rin. “How about you and Bakashi prepare dinner while I keep Eri-sama happy?”

Rin laughed. “I think that’s a great idea. How does… Autumn udon sound?”

“Awesome!” Obito grinned, giving Rin a double thumbs-up. 

“Alright. Come on, Kakashi-kun. I hope you know how to use the stove,” Rin commented slyly as she headed towards the kitchen.

“Of course I know how to use the--let’s just get going.” Kakashi walked away, followed by Rin.

Obito turned to Eri. “How about we finish the last of the  _ Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja _ , ne?”

Eri nodded eagerly, and climbed into Obito’s lap as he opened up to the most recent page. The two of them barely managed to hide their snickers when they heard Rin’s slow, “...how about you just chop up the mushrooms? I’ll… do everything else.”

Perhaps it was because the children were shinobi that it didn’t take much time to make dinner; Obito finished the book at around the same time. He carried Eri to her baby seat (which she absolutely loathed), in which he firmly secured her, before taking a seat next to her, with Rin and Kakashi directly across from him.

“Itadakimasu!” Obito chirped as he clapped his hands together, his chopsticks hanging loosely between his two palms. 

Rin echoed his yell less enthusiastically, while Kakashi simply began to eat. Eri stared miserably at her bowl. While she did certainly receive some form of Autumn udon, everything was cut up into little ugly pieces. It was supposed to make it easier for her to chew, which she  _ was _ thankful for, seeing as she didn’t want to choke to death, but she missed the texture of soft udon noodles. Before she managed to drool into her bowl, Eri sighed and began to eat, using her incredibly limiting spoon to scoop up the pathetic particles into her mouth.

By the time the four kids were done with their dinner, Kushina returned home. Eri had noticed her before she’d entered the house, of course: the familiar soft pink aura was hard to miss. Eri noticed Kushina’s bright smile, and her now much more cheerful voice, and began to feel a little bad about how her mother had gotten so tired from just watching over her. She decided Kushina needed more vacation time from her as often as possible.

When Kakashi informed the redhead that Orochimaru had dropped by, Kushina laughed pleasantly. The four children gave her questioning looks, none of which she answered as she waved her hand, dismissing the questions before they could even be brought up.

“Thank you all for taking care of Eri,” Kushina said instead, scooping Eri into her arms. Eri settled her face into the comfortable crook of her mother’s neck, and clutched onto Kushina’s beautiful red hair. Just smelling Kushina made Eri sleepy and elated. “...and it’s getting late, so you should all stay over.”

“Ah,” Rin bit her lower lip, before apologizing. “My family is celebrating something tonight, and would really like me home. I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, Kushina-san.”

Everyone in the room knew that was a polite way of saying “my family would like to celebrate the fact that I am still alive, despite actively participating in the war, and would like to have me around as much as possible while I am still breathing”, but didn’t comment further. Eri didn’t know why Kushina didn’t just make the kid go home to her family and let Eri be babysat by someone else. (Her hypothesis was that Kushina was just really strict about who Eri could interact with)

Obito eagerly accepted the offer, which Eri actually felt bad about. She knew he wasn’t well-liked by the Uchihas just because he hadn’t awoken his Sharingan yet (and she thought that was a completely ridiculous reason to hate someone). But Obito soon hesitated, and slowly added, “but I don’t have permission from the clan.”

Kushina simply replied, “That’s already taken care of. You don’t have to worry about it.”

Obito’s shoulders dropped with what looked like relief, and happily informed the Uzumaki that then he would indeed be sleeping over.

“And you, Kakashi-kun?” Kushina cooed. Eri noticed Kushina really had a fondness for making fun of geniuses. 

Kakashi turned away, but before he could say anything, Kushina added, “Minato-kun’s coming home tomorrow early in the morning. Straight here, to our home, I mean.” As expected, Kakashi then immediately accepted Kushina’s offer with a swift nod, which could almost pass as ‘enthusiastic’ for the Hatake.

The remaining shinobi plus one child soon waved goodbye to Rin, who left for her own home. Kushina then ordered the “ mutts” to go and wash off the dirt and mud, and took Eri off into the bathroom to wash her off. 

When Kushina rinsed the shampoo out, she quietly asked, “Do you know what day it is in three days?”

Eri squinted, before replying, “Friday?”

Kushina laughed, before answering, “No, silly. It’s your birthday.”

“Oh.”

There was silence.

“That’s why tou-chan’s coming home early.”

“Okay.”

“Nn. Make sure you… you thank him, okay? He worked really hard so he could come back in time for your birthday.”

“Nn.”

One shower later, Eri was finally squeaky clean. When she saw that Obito was also ready for sleep, she demanded, “Obito! Me. Sleep. Bed.”

Obito gave her the same polite look that she was getting used to, until Kakashi rolled his eyes and deciphered for him, “she wants you to tuck her in bed.”

“Oh,” Obito said after a pause. “I knew that. Okay, Eri-chan. Let’s go!”

With that, Obito carried the toddler in his arms to her room, where he placed her in her crib. She smiled contently when he pulled out  _ the Tales from the Bamboo Grove _ on her command. And by the time Obito finished one folktale, Eri was long asleep, without a single worry about the future.

* * *

  


The next morning, Eri was disappointed to find neither her father nor Obito home (she wasn’t really that disappointed about Kakashi’s absence). But she was relieved when Kushina informed her that Minato and Team 7 were at the training compound, catching up with the current war status and sparring (which Eri recently discovered was merely torture in practical disguise).

Eri hurriedly finished her breakfast, which earned her a scolding from her concerned mother. But Eri was too excited by the prospect of seeing her father again that she didn’t really feel bad about making her mother worry about her. As soon as she was done with her breakfast, she called out for her mother and demanded that she be changed and be carried all the way to the training compound. 

Kushina rolled her eyes at Eri’s command, and rebuked her lightly about talking to elders with respect, but changed Eri anyways. (And Kushina made fun of Minato for spoiling Eri, heh). Once Kushina finished packing Team 7’s lunches, she lifted Eri into her arms and walked slowly towards the clusters of forests to the east.

As soon as Eri arrived at the training compound, she wiggled in her mother’s grip until Kushina allowed Eri to stand on her own. With her (newly developed) walking skills, Eri toddled over to the place where the loudest grunts could be heard, before falling on her knees after the first four steps. She shot Kushina a “I can do it by myself” glare before she shakily pushed herself back up with the palms of her hands. Eri wobbled uncertainly back and forth before she finally found her balance, and again began to waddle to her father. 

What she walked into was almost exactly the same as always, except Minato was being more strict about the team’s performance than usual. In fact, the atmosphere in the compound was so tense that Eri stayed unusually still and quiet, warily watching her beautiful blonde father stand before his team, one hand on his waist and the other running through his hair.

“Obito, you have to be more aware of your surroundings before you use your katon jutsus,” Minato reprimanded. “Rin, you’re too passive. Watch both your teammates’ and your opponents’ movements, and join in. Communicate as much as you can.” When Kakashi snorted not-so-quietly, Minato turned to Kakashi and added, “Kakashi, you aren’t going to be able to beat someone like me by yourself. You need to work with the team.”

The three children blushed unanimously, before shouting a simultaneous “Hai!” Minato gave no sign of acknowledgement, merely ordering them back to their new hiding places. Eri was sure she almost heard her father mutter, “Not good enough” before disappearing and leaving puffs of dust behind. Eri blinked. This kind of reaction was definitely not like her father: he was always patient and understanding, critical but never harsh. This Minato seemed… exactly the opposite of all of that.

Eri squealed as she felt herself being lifted in the air, and turned to see her mother staring grimly at where her father had been. 

“What?” Eri asked, reaching up to pat Kushina’s face. 

Kushina looked back at Eri, as though in a daze, before shunshinning the two of them nearly a foot away from their original spot. Eri frowned; she’d actually worked quite hard to reach that place. But her mother only smiled tiredly, and patted Eri on the head, settling both of them down against a nearby tree trunk. Eri stared at her mother impatiently.

“Tou-san… against many soldiers,” Kushina said (Eri only heard the words she understood).

Eri did not break her gaze from her mother. She really didn’t understand the significance of that. Her father was participating in a Shinobi  _ war _ . It was no surprise that he’d be out there fighting other shinobi.

“They were very young,” Kushina mumbled. There was silence, until she added, “Most of them were Obito-chan and Rin-chan’s age.”

Eri still stared at Kushina until she realized her father had killed dozens of children his students’ age, and immediately felt like shit. So this was why Kushina wanted Eri to thank Minato; he’d probably killed at least two kids every minute to be able to return from his mission in just four days. He wouldn’t have faced just poorly trained children, after all. There tended to be jounin around when there were children soldiers (which Eri figured was to lessen the guilt that came with sending kids to get killed), whom Minato would’ve had to killed as well. And even with his Hiraishin, there was a limit to his fighting efficiency.

Eri wondered what it was like, to kill children for the sake of your village, only to return and face your team of same-aged kids. In response to her own question, she felt a twinge of pity. Her father was strong, but even the strongest men could crack under pressure. She knew that best, after all--Wait. She knew that best? How did she-- 

She felt a sharp pang of pain, and clutched her head. 

“Eri-chan?” Eri heard her mother call her, but the voice seemed distant and cloudy. Eri clutched her eyes shut, and shuddered. The pain passed within the next few seconds, but Eri kept her eyes closed just in case. Again, Kushina prodded, “Eri, are you okay?”

Eri winced, but turned to her kaa-chan and gave her a smile. Kushina sighed in relief, and gently said, “You scared me, dattebane.”

“Sorry,” Eri said sheepishly. “Head hurt.” 

Kushina frowned and rested her chin between her right index finger and thumb. “Ehh… Maybe you’re dehydrated. That’s not good. Here, drink some water.” Kushina reached into her pack and pulled out a water bottle, from which Eri eagerly sucked water. The headache did subside a little, but not completely. Still, Kushina looked far too worried, so Eri simply said, “Good now.” Then, she added in sympathy, “Poor tou-chan.”

Kushina looked at Eri in poorly concealed surprise. Eri ignored the look, which she noticed her parents expressed more and more frequently. She didn’t know what was surprising them so often: if it was her ability to talk, then they had to get over that as quickly as possible. Her goal was to achieve something far beyond just mere talking, after all. 

“Kaa-chan, book,” Eri instead insisted, pointing at Kushina’s pack. Her red-head mother always brought along stories (or poorly veiled propaganda, as Eri liked to call them) when they visited the training compound. Kushina’s lips were tight and firm in a straight line, but the woman said nothing as she reached in and pulled out the  _ Tale of the Utterly Gutsy Ninja _ .

“No,” Eri complained. “Me. Obito. Finish!”

Kushina blinked, before rolling her eyes with a smile and exchanging the book for  _ The Story of the Senju _ . Eri made a funny face at the book, because just the title  _ itself _ was promising a “great tale of the brave and undefeatable senju brothers!” But Kushina took no notice as she pulled Eri closer, and laid the book before the two of them.

“The Senju are actually very close with the Uzumaki,” Kushina informed Eri. “In fact, your great-great aunt was a Senju.” 

“Eehh,” Eri wailed, voicing her perpetual disinterest.

The redhaired woman conveniently ignored Eri’s complaint and began, “The Senju brothers were originally four young men of the Senju clan…”

Two painful hours later, Eri turned to the familiar blue aura approaching them, rushing into his arms as fast as she could. She snuggled into the crook of his neck, ignoring the sweat and dirt, and wrapped her arms around him as much as she could.

“Tou-chan,” she groaned. “Book. Bad.” 

Minato chuckled before wrapping his arms around Eri and lifting her up. “I’m sure it wasn’t that bad.” Eri could almost  _ feel _ Kushina roll her eyes at Eri’s dramatic actions.

Then Eri remembered what Kushina had said, and added, “Thank you. Come home. Fast!”

She pulled back, and inspected her father’s face for any scratches or scars. “Safe?” Eri demanded. 

There was a significant pause before Minato nodded, and confirmed, “Safe.” Eri nodded, and turned towards the approaching auras of white, green, and red. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito stood sheepishly. 

“Come,” Eri demanded. “Lunch.”

Rin laughed softly, and was the first to approach the father-daughter duo. Obito followed obediently. But Kakashi lingered on the side, and from the looks of it, Eri could tell he had been reprimanded again by Minato. And from the faintly ashamed glint in his eyes (Eri was only half-bullshitting--or so she claimed to herself), Eri could tell he genuinely felt bad about not doing well.

“Bakashi. Feed me,” Eri commanded, hoping to break his tension.

And break his traut lines she did. In fact, it would be fair to say she tore them down. His mask of indifference broke and he frowned, and opened his mouth to say something before Minato interrupted him. 

“C’mon, Kakashi-kun,” Minato smiled, and Eri watched in fascination as Kakashi seemed to melt with affection. She still found it strange that she was the only one who noticed how much Kakashi adored Minato.

“Hai, sensei,” Kakashi replied in supposed indifference before sitting down (not so covertly, Eri might add) right between Obito and Minato. Eri shared a look with Kushina, but allowed herself to be settled between Minato’s legs and be fed by her father. Kakashi occasionally shot her the typical jealous glare, but thankfully kept his thoughts to himself (probably because he didn’t want to show his antagonizing side to Minato).

By the time the group were finished with their lunch, the sun had long been lowered from its position high in the sky. Kushina decided Eri should head back inside, which Eri vehemently disagreed with. But Minato reminded Eri that the February weather was incredibly cold, and would only get worse as time passed (fully knowing Eri couldn’t stand the cold), and convinced her to return. Pouting, Eri waved goodbye at her father and his team as she was carried away by her mother back home.

Once the two arrived at the Namikaze compound, Eri noticed a snake laced with the same green aura from the day before in their front yard. Kushina seemed to notice it too, and paused right before it. Eri marvelled at the sleek, black snake. But when Eri reached out to pet the snake, Kushina gently slapped Eri’s hand with a soft, “No.”

Before Eri could cry--not from anger, but from shock--Kushina tutted, and stated, “Orochimaru-san’s snakes don’t like being touched by strangers.”

With that explanation in mind, Eri tried to hold back her tears as best as she could, though some managed to slip past her. Those that did slide down her face, Eri rubbed at mercilessly. She was not weak. She would not let her baby-hormones make her irrational. And because Eri was so busy scolding herself, she did not notice the silent black mamba study her. 

“Does Orochimaru-san have a message for me?” Kushina asked. The snake turned to her, before shedding its skin in a few seconds. Eri watched in wonder. Didn’t snakes usually take weeks to shed?

Kushina noticed Eri’s confused look, and informed her, “She’s a summon, so she can use chakra to accelerate her molting speed.” 

Under the black mamba’s old molted skin was a scroll, which Kushina tucked into her sleeves. “Thank you very much,” Kushina bowed to the snake, which hissed in response before disappearing through the grass.

“What?” Eri questioned as Kushina carried her back inside the home. “Hnn?”

“Orochimaru-san and I are working on a project,” Kushina said calmly as she gently laid Eri on the couch. “He’s studying a special form of fuuinjutsu, and wanted my help.”

Eri’s eyes widened. The (in)famous Sannin was requesting help from  _ her _ mother? Her chest swelled with pride. Kushina laughed heartily and poked her daughter’s chest with her index finger. 

“That’s right, Eri’s kaa-chan is very smart,” Kushina cooed. “And beautiful. And loved. And--”

Eri blew raspberries, and laughed when Kushina began to kiss all around her face and fingers. “Nooo,” Eri cried helplessly when Kushina’s kisses turned into tickles. “Kaa-chan, noo.”

Kushina grinned, before turning stoic and asking, “Does Namikaze Eri give in to Uzumaki Kushina?”

Eri turned stoic as well, and responded, “Namikazes never.”

“Well, then,” Kushina’s face broke into a sadistic beam. “I guess I’ll just keep going.”

Eri squealed again, and considered smacking her mother in the face before deciding hitting a jinchuuriki in the face was probably not a good idea. “Okay,” Eri giggled. “Okay. Give up.”

Kushina slyly grinned, as though satisfied with conquering a toddler, and got up. “All right, then. Victory to the Uzumaki.” She glanced outside the window, and clucked her tongue. “It’s time for your nap,” she announced, before picking up the squirming Eri and walking to Eri’s room.

“Ehh,” Eri whined. “Noo.”

Kushina ignored Eri’s complaints as she laid her down in the crib, and began to rock the crib gently. Eri attempted to stand up, but the rocking made her fall on her butt, and, eventually, her back. Before Eri could complain again, Kushina began to sing a little lullaby, which Eri had previously learnt was from Uzushio.

Kushina sang,

“Hush baby, hush child,

The wind blows

The sea cries

And Uzushio is your home

  


Hush baby, hush child,

Your mother is at the markets

Your father is at sea

And Uzushio is your home

  


Hush baby, hush child,

The mountains protect

what the sea cannot

And Uzushio is your home”

  
Before Eri realized she really was drifting asleep (damn babies and their tendency to fall asleep whenever they were full and warm!), she noticed the sadness in her mother’s eyes as she reached for something in her sleeves. It was then that Eri remembered her mother had lost her entire village, her home, her family… And black rushed in.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter! 
> 
> Cheers to my beta winteralley. I'd be so lost without her.

 

Eri’s birthday came a lot faster than she’d imagined it to have, what with her father being rarely home. Minato was always out with his team, training them much harder than they typically were used to. Eri was disappointed she was temporarily banned from the training grounds (“It’s going to be really intense, so the only obstacles there should be ones that can be destroyed,” her father had said) because she really missed her father. So when her parents started to set up the house for her birthday party, Eri was elated that she’d have her father to herself for the whole day. 

“Look, Eri-chan,” Minato chirped, his left hand held over his right with their palms touching. “Which one is this again?”

Eri’s eyebrows knitted together, before she yelled, “Monkey!”

“Perfect!” Minato exclaimed, before pulling her into a hug and rubbing their cheeks together. “You’re so smart, Eri-chan. What am I going to do with you?” 

“Next, next!” Eri urged.

“Okay. What’s this?” Minato intertwined his fingers, with his left thumb placed outside.

“Snake!” Eri answered immediately. 

Minato chuckled and patted her head. “Yep. And now--”

Eri abruptly twisted away from Minato to stare at the front door as soon as she saw a hint of foreign aura approaching the front door, not noticing the strange way Minato stared at her turned back. “Eeh? Tou-san. Guest!”

Minato stood up. “I guess we already have someone here.”

Before Minato or Kushina (who was in the kitchen cooking something incredibly delicious) could open the door, it opened by itself, slamming into the wall.

“Minato!” a rough voice called out. “Your great sensei is here!”

Eri stared in awe as a tall man with obnoxiously bright white hair entered the house. He wore a familiar grey head guard, and an armor mesh underneath his green kimono shirt and red haori. But most noticeable were the two red streaks running down his eyes, one under each eye. Infamous pervert jumped in to hug Minato and pat his back, while prattling on about his most recent (and probably classified, the old coot) mission.

“Jiraiya!” she blurted out.

The man turned to her in what seemed to be amusement, and peered over Minato’s shoulder once he released the blond man from his grips. “Ehh? So that’s the pipsqueak!” He turned to Minato with a shit-eating grin. Eri glanced at Minato, because--“So you bragged about me to her already, eh? Of course, if you have a master such as I”--no one had  _ actually _ told her about Jiraiya.

“Jiraiya-san!” Kushina yelled, having exited the kitchen. “What have I told you about opening our house doors carefully!” 

Minato eyed Eri inconspicuously. “Yes, sensei, please don’t break our doors.”

Eri started to sweat slowly as she tried to come up with various excuses for her foreknowledge. Well… She’d read the  _ Utterly Gutsy Ninja… _ And Obito--Obito had read it to her! She could argue that Obito had let it slip while reading her the book. As long as the idiot didn’t contradict her (and she would make sure he wouldn’t), she would be fine. Minato had nothing to be suspicious about! 

Except he wouldn’t stop giving her that weird look. Eri avoided Minato’s eyes as much as possible, focusing on the wart on Jiraiya’s face.

Eri whined, reaching her arms out, “Me! Me!”

Jiraiya gave her a surprised look, before grinning. “The little brat’s spoiled, isn’t she?”

Eri gave Jiraiya the stink eye, before she opened her arms with more emphasis and demanded, “Carry!”

For a second, Jiraiya’s expression turned blank before he slowly walked over to her and picked her up. Eri reached up to grab onto Jiraiya’s white hair to tug on it. (It was softer than it had looked, and certainly a lot longer). Eri was so absorbed in contemplating whether she should stick the strands of hair in her mouth or not that she almost missed Jiraiya’s calm, “How old is she again?”

Before her parents could answer in her stead, Eri answered, “Now one!”

Jiraiya smiled. “Ehh, is that so?”

“Yes, she’s already turned one,” Kushina answered (she seemed almost rushed, Eri noted).

“Hmm… Eri-chan, do you love your kaa-chan and tou-chan?” Jiraiya asked.

“I’m sure she does, sensei,” Minato interjected. “How about we sit down for a cup of coffee?”

“But I think Eri-chan wants to answer the question,” Jiraiya turned to Eri. “Ne?”

Eri paused at the palpable tension in the room, and especially at her parents’ strangely fluctuating auras. “Uhh…” she bit her lip. “Both. Eri like both.”

If auras could collapse in on themselves, that was exactly what her parents’ did.

“Ahh, so Eri-chan likes both of her parents,” Jiraiya smiled. “I see.”

“Sensei--”

“So I’m guessing the reason Eri’s introduction into society is late because she’s a toddler who can understand questions and answer them in chopped up, but still logical, phrases.” Jiraiya frowned. “Why were you two hiding this?”

Eri looked nervously at her father and then at her father. Both of their faces had turned blank and shut. She recognized that expression from when they really didn’t want to talk about something (which had always been associated with ‘killing little children in battles’ until now). Eri squirmed in Jiraiya’s arms, and reached out for Minato, who took her effortlessly and quickly. Minato even took a step backwards, and passed Eri onto Kushina before stepping in front of both of them, as though to block Eri from Jiraiya’s line of view. And the Sannin definitely did  _ not _ miss that.

“Minato,” Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. “Is there something going on that I need to know about?”

“No,” Kushina bit out, before Minato held out a hand to silence both of them.

“Eri is… a little different from the other children,” Minato began.

“Like the Uchiha?” Jiraiya asked bluntly. 

Minato paused, before nodding and saying, “Yes, a little like Itachi-kun.”

“Well that’s great!” Jiraiya beamed. But Eri still stayed stiff as she noticed her parents’ auras coil and tense. The toad sage added, “That is a good thing, right Minato? You haven’t… done anything to her?”

“Of course not,” Minato snapped. Eri jumped in surprise at her father’s burst of anger. She had… she’d never seen him so... upset. His aura jostled together, as though it were boiling. “I would never--not to a child, much less my own!”

Jiraiya held his two hands up, as though to calm Minato. “Of course you wouldn’t. I’m sure of it. I just thought I should ask.” He glanced at Eri, then shifted his weight to his other leg. “Minato… is this because of the work-load Eri will be put through if she’s acknowledged as a genius?” (Eri only understood the word ‘genius’, and her ears perked up).

“It’s not that,” Kushina said slowly. “She’s…” She exchanged a look with Minato before continuing, “She’s  _ really _ different. We… We talked about her advanced comprehension, and we decided to observe her for a longer time before we informed other people.”

Jiraiya quirked his eyebrow. “If you were trying to hide her intelligence, you weren’t doing a very good job of it. I figured it out in the first two minutes of meeting her, and I’m sure others will figure it out just as quickly.” Jiraiya ran his fingers through his hair. “Look, I get it. You’re new parents, and you’re worried about the adversities your child will face as a ninja. But you’re both shinobi, and you’re  _ never _ going to let her get in a fight without properly training her. And knowing your personalities, one of you is probably always going to be there, at least until she becomes a chuunin. She’s going to be safe, even if she does get a bit of a head start before everyone else her age.”

“There were children in the battle three days ago,” Minato bit out. “Six year olds. Of course, there were also dozens of jounin there as well, but--sensei, they will send her out to war much earlier if she starts training earlier than her peers.” Kushina’s grip on Eri tightened.

Jiraiya was silent, until he said, “She’s talented, Minato. You can see it, I can see it--hell, even the idiot Uzumaki can see it”--Kushina glared at Jiraiya-- “I kid, Kushina. But you understand, don’t you? She will be a necessary addition to our forces. And-- _ listen _ \-- she won’t die. You two will make sure of that, won’t you?”

“Of course I’ll protect her, ‘ttebane,” Kushina growled. “No one’s going to even  _ touch _ Eri.”

“Yes, see?” Jiraiya nodded. “But she’s not going to be safe just because of your protection. As a child of you two, I bet she could be a fuuinjutsu  _ master _ at six years old--not that she’d be sent out that early,” Jiraiya added. 

“You were six years old when you became a genin,” Minato said flatly. “And Kakashi became chuunin at six.”

“That was a long time ago,” Jiraiya snapped back. “ I was never sent to the front lines until I was actually capable of fighting chuunin off. And Kakashi still hasn’t actually been sent into active battle.” Jiraiya sighed. “The point is, we’re not going to send Eri away into battle as she is. She’s going to be trained by the best shinobi we have, and she’s going to head into battle after she enters the academy, learns the actual techniques and skills, gets her own team--god _ damn _ it, Minato, Kushina. You two are smart. You should know by now that she would  _ never _ be sent into battle alone without training! If anything, she’d be given advanced training,  _ more _ training, before being sent out into the battlefield!”

There was silence.

“We had a bad feeling,” Kushina finally said.

“You had a bad feeling,” Jiraiya repeated, giving Kushina a look that made her blush. “Why am I not surprised.”

The two couple were quiet as Jiraiya sighed for the fifteenth time. And after this entire exchange, Eri, who had just  _ barely _ understood what had been said, began to cry. Sure, she was being acknowledged as a genius now, but if she’d known how much trouble it’d have brought her parents, she wouldn’t have made it so obvious to others.

“Oh, no, no, no,” Jiraiya took several steps back. “Uhh… Don’t cry! Don’t--Minato, do something!”

With the ease of a pro, Kushina tucked Eri into her bosom, and patted her back with gentle hands. Minato reached over and ran his hand through Eri’s short hair. “It’s OK, Eri-chan,” Minato murmured.

“Sorry,” Eri cried. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Kushina whispered into her ear.

“Er… I’ll just… I will go and make that coffee. Yes, that’s what I’ll do.” With that, Jiraiya side crab-walked into the kitchen, keeping his eyes on the sobbing Eri. 

After a few minutes, Eri’s full blown sobs turned into faint hiccups. The trio remained silent, Kushina still patting Eri’s back. Jiraiya popped his head out from the kitchen, nervously glancing at the small child. “The, uh, the coffee’s ready.”

“Okay,” Eri wiped her face on Minato’s sleeve, who--to his credit--winced only slightly. “Now. Kitchen,” Eri demanded, her little body still shaking slightly. Kushina chuckled, before heading to the kitchen with Eri tucked in her arms. 

Jiraiya had already taken a seat at the kitchen dining table. As Kushina sat down on a chair, Eri observed the Sannin. It was… It was actually kind of funny that Jiraiya of the Sannin would be so afraid of a crying child. The thought made her chuckle, which eventually evolved into a burst of laughter.

Minato and Eri exchanged a look, and Eri pointed at Jiraiya and said through her giggles, “Scared. Eri.”

Minato and Kushina also began to laugh at Jiraiya’s expense, who sat there in confusion. 

“She, um,” Minato laughed. “She finds it funny that you’re afraid of her.”

Jiraiya slowly smiled, and chuckled heartily. Eventually, the four stopped laughing, leaving a silent and awkward silence hanging amongst them.

“I… apologize,” Jiraiya murmured as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I shouldn’t have been so aggressive about it. It’s just she’s  _ your child _ \--Umph. I’ll try to tone down the excitement.”

“No, sensei,” Minato hung his head in shame. “I was also unreasonable. You’re right, I suppose. It’s just… I guess it’s because Eri  _ is _ our first child that we were so worried.”

“I still stand by my point,” Kushina said loudly, but with a smile.

“Me too!” Eri chirped, prompting the three adults to chuckle again.

“I think it’d be best if we informed Sarutobi-sensei,” Jiraiya thought aloud. “A child like Eri only appears once in a generation, or so they say. I’m sure they can start teaching her things that’ll be vital to her development and survival--oh, ur, uhm, I mean--”

“It’s fine,” Kushina interrupted. “It  _ should  _ be considered survival, what with the war still waging.”

The three adults eventually morphed their conversation around the current situation of the war, and the increasing Iwa shinobi that were entering the war. They didn’t know where the extra forces were coming from, and finding out just exactly that was Jiraiya’s most recent mission. Eri began to drift in and out of sleep, as the conversation started to become too complicated for her to understand. 

“Oh kami, look at the time,” Kushina blurted as she glanced out the window. “Minato--here, take Eri-- the  _ soup! _ ”

Eri was thrust into Minato’s arms and out of her dream (which strangely involved her blowing up Konoha), and Kushina quickly went on to make dinner for the party. Jiraiya agreed with Minato’s suggestion to continue decorating the house, so the two shinobi shunshinned (the lazy asses) around the house with sparkling chains made of some kind of soft material, and put up pictures of Eri as a baby (why would they do that?! There was even one of her drooling in her sleep!) on the wall. When Eri whined about the photos, Minato donned a poker face and said something along the lines of, “We have to share your cuteness with the world.”

“Jiji?” Eri asked.

“Hokage-sama is busy today,” Minato said. “But we’ll get to meet him soon. Don’t worry.”

It was around 5 PM when the next guests all started to thread in at once. Her parents tried to introduce everyone to her, but Eri couldn’t connect the names to the faces--Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, something something what?

Seeing as her parents were still apparently freaking out about her “high intelligence”, Eri tried her hardest to dumb down her talk as much as possible. That didn’t seem to help, because everyone still found her baby babble quite amazing. Meanwhile, Jiraiya took notice of her subtle change and seemed even more impressed. (Eri never realized until that day how hard it was to act stupid).

All in all, everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. Even Eri was elated (mostly because her parents themselves were happy), although she didn’t know anyone in that party. But things took a turn for the unexpected when a clear woman’s voice called, “Kushina-chan!”

Eri’s mother, who had been holding Eri quite tightly, spun around in the direction of the voice, leaving the redheaded child dizzy for a few seconds. Eri’s eyes spun slightly, and she couldn’t quite make out who the woman before her was. But she was definitely beautiful. The woman had a rounder, smaller face with big, dark eyes that were split evenly by a pointy, short nose. The woman’s stature was short, but in a graceful way. 

“Mikoto-chan!” Kushina exclaimed in response. “You came!”

Mikoto… Mikoto? The only Mikoto she knew from the Narutoverse was…

“Nn,” Mikoto smiled, and turned to Eri. “Oh, she’s pretty big for her age. I’m glad she’s only a year younger than Itachi-kun!”

…Itachi and Sasuke’s mother.

“Yes, I think the two of them will get along quite well,” Kushina commented.

Mikoto glanced at Kushina, and the two shared a look that Eri couldn’t decipher, before Mikoto turned back to Eri. “Eri-chan, you must be pretty happy. It’s your birthday, after all!”

Eri snuck a look at Kushina. Did her mother want her to hide her intelligence in front of this woman too? But Kushina gave no response, so Eri just smiled and made some strange bubble noises, to which Mikoto laughed.

“What about Fugaku-kun?” Kushina asked enthusiastically.

“He caught a cold, and couldn’t come,” Mikoto said. “It’s a shame. He was looking forward to the party.”

“Cut the political bull--uh, the political nonsense. We both know he was looking for an excuse to not be here,” Kushina said, rolling her eyes. “You’d think he would’ve forgiven me for that underwear prank by now, ‘ttebane. He’s such a wussy.”

The thought of her mother pranking the great Uchiha head was such an unfathomable idea that Eri burst out laughing in joy. She really wished she had been there to see the old man’s reaction. 

“Eri-chan is definitely happy today,” Mikoto cooed, before taking a step back. “Well, I can’t stay for long. Fugaku actually spread his cold to Itachi-kun, and neither are in any state to care for one another.” Mikoto sighed. “But it was great to finally see Eri-chan.”

“I’m sure Eri was glad to meet you too,” Kushina spoke on Eri’s behalf (Eri would never admit that she’d initially been kind-of-sort-of-actually afraid of the mass murderer’s mother).

“Yes, well, if you hadn’t been so overprotective about who she could meet and who she couldn’t, I would’ve met her a long time ago,” Mikoto said dryly. Eri saw her mother blush sheepishly. “So I guess you’ll now make it up to me by bringing her over for a playdate with Itachi-kun some time this week, ne?”

Before Eri could protest--which Kushina noticed at lightening speed--Kushina chirped, “Of course!”

With that, Mikoto smiled and said her goodbyes, adding on that she’d left the gift in the living room, before disappearing into the crowd.

Kushina said under her breath, “Just for today, let’s act like you’re not _Namikaze_ _Eri_ , ne?”

Eri gave her a flat, annoyed look, but kept her mouth shut. She definitely didn’t want to repeat the scene from before with Jiraiya, so she allowed herself to be carried around the room again, greeting Clan Heads (who were interested in using her as a political pawn), and her parents’ other shinobi friends (who just wanted to see what the production of the Red Hot Blooded Habanero and Konoha’s Yellow Flash would be like). There were surprisingly a lot of people at the party, considering there was a war waging on beyond the walls of Konoha (she later found out that many shinobi had used Eri’s birthday party as an excuse to drink their brains out). Ultimately, Eri was not amused by or interested in any of the people she was introduced to. At least, until she heard Jiraiya yell out, 

“Tsunade! Orochimaru!”

Eri was actually excited to see all of the Sannin in the same place at the same time. Apparently, most of the people had the same idea, because they all turned to stare at the slug, snake, and frog summoners. Jiraiya spoke excitedly with his arms waving around, to whom Tsunade and Orochimaru gave unimpressed looks. Once the pervert made eye contact with Eri, he waved her and Kushina over. 

“Uzumaki,” Orochimaru first acknowledged (and was he… was he  _ smiling _ ?).

“Orochimaru-san,” Kushina bowed her head slightly. “Tsunade-san. This is Eri, Minato’s and my daughter.”

By then, nearly everyone in the room was staring. With that in mind, Eri stayed still and refrained from making any strange movement.

“Heh,” Tsunade smiled, and leaned forward. Eri tried her hardest to not allow her eyes to stray down… down towards that--wow, they were really big--no, no. Eri gave Tsunade a sly smile. “She’s pretty cute.” (And now the slug princess was added onto her Favorites list)

“An almost carbon copy of Namikaze’s eyes,” Orochimaru analyzed. “Though that mop of hers is definitely from Uzumaki.”

“She’s definitely going to be as smart as her parents,” Jiraiya declared. But his body language had apparently hinted at something, because Tsunade’s stare turned sharp, and she began to analyze her in a different light. Eri shifted uncomfortably in her mother’s arms. Was she the only one who had observed the change? Surely not. But one look at the nearby Hyuuga Head, and she could tell that she indeed had been the only one to notice.

“Well, I guess I’ll have to visit more often, cousin Kushina,” Tsunade straightened her back, leaving her eyes on Eri’s face. “She sounds like an interesting kid.”

“Of course,” Kushina said. “She’s my child, after all.”

At that, Tsunade burst into a laugh, going so far as to wipe a tear from her eye. “Ahh, Uzumaki pride never changes.” The slug princess glanced around the room, and asked, “So where’s the booze?”

Kushina rolled her eyes before using her thumb to point at the other end of the room. Tsunade rubbed her palms together before stalking off to the table with alcohol, and Jiraiya trailed after Tsunade, promising Kushina he’ll “make sure she doesn’t drink herself to her death--or to Minato’s bankruptcy.” Which left Kushina and Eri with… Orochimaru.

“Have you inspected what I’d last sent you?” Orochimaru asked, apparently getting straight to his point.

“Ahh, yes. There are several things that I think should be changed before the seal is actually implemented, but the general theory should work,” Kushina answered, her index finger on her chin in a pondering pose. “In fact--”

Eri whined, and opened her arms to Orochimaru, “Meeeee. Carrryyy.” (What could she say? She liked being held by handsome, dangerous men).

Orochimaru gave her a look of extreme distaste, until he realized the significance of her demand. “So this is what the idiot meant by ‘smart’. I’d thought her intelligence from our prior meeting had been a coincidence. This level of comprehension certainly is surprising for a child her age,” Orochimaru said in a pitch low enough for just Kushina and Eri to hear.

Kushina’s smile tightened. “I would prefer it if you kept it to yourself, Orochimaru-san.”

Eri blushed once she realized she’d made a mistake, but still waved her arm around in the air. “Orocchin!”

There was silence between Kushina and Orochimaru, with Kushina staring at her daughter in disbelief.

“Orocchin,” Eri repeated. (She even said it slowly for him so he could understand it).

Orochimaru went through the indecency of having his jaw hang in the air for a few seconds before remembering where he was and exclaiming, “I--you will  _ not _ call me by such a--”

Kushina laughed, and pushed Eri into Orochimaru’s outreached arms; because of his advanced reflexes, Orochimaru ended up holding onto Eri before she was dropped onto the floor. That was how he held her: far from his own body, with his hands tucked under Eri’s armpits. Eri frowned, and reached her arms out again.

“She wants you to hug her closer,” Kushina noted.

“I know that,” Orochimaru snapped, before turning to Eri. “No. Bad.” Eri somehow managed to grab a handful of Orochimaru’s hair, which she tugged at violently while maintaining eye contact with the snake summoner. “Ow--Hold on, wait--”

In an effort to pull Eri’s pudgy fingers away from his hair, Orochimaru had brought Eri closer to him, leading to his inevitable downfall: Eri latched her arms around Orochimaru’s neck, and snuggled in her favorite area between the shoulder and the neck. Orochimaru stiffened, but Eri merely released the patch in her chubby palms to run her hands through his hair.

“That’s all she’ll want to do for the next hour,” Kushina warned. “She likes beautiful hair.”

“Her and her mother both,” Orochimaru grumbled. Eri did not respond, tugging on the un _ believ _ ably soft hair. (It was actually kind of unfair how elegant the men’s hair in this Narutoverse were).

In the end, Orochimaru awkwardly held onto Eri as Kushina left to get some dinner. But he seemed quite content, almost happy, about the situation; it was definitely not because he had the opportunity to hold onto Eri, but because of something else. (Eri had the slightest suspicion that he was happy about the amount of trust being placed on him by Kushina, but she couldn’t see why he’d be happy about something as small as that).

By the time it was 10 PM, almost everyone had left, stumbling out the front door and giving their best wishes and she’s-so-cute’s and presents. The only ones remaining were Jiraiya, an extremely drunk Tsunade, a grumpy Orochimaru, Eri (who had returned to her father’s arms), Eri’s parents, and Minato’s team, whom Eri had somehow missed the entire party.

“Sorry we’re saying goodbye as we say hello, Eri-chan,” Obito mumbled. “Uh, we were just a little busy.”

Eri said nothing, and simply watched. Obito fumbled with the object behind his back until Kakashi rolled his eyes and stole it, despite the Uchiha’s protests.

“Here,” Kakashi muttered as he pressed the present into Kushina’s arms. “It’s a present from all of us.”

“We couldn’t get much,” Rin apologized (and wasn’t she the sweetest angel?). “We were training until just now, so we couldn’t get anything additional.” Eri shot her father a horrified look, and was almost disgusted by the innocent mask her father donned (she was only  _ almost _ disgusted because she would never be able to get upset at her either of her parents). Did he really make his students train while he enjoyed himself at her birthday party?

“It’s OK,” Obito added quickly, having noticed the Namikazes’ brief, nonverbal exchange. “The training was for our own good. We’re heading out to a place near the front lines in two days, so we had to do a lot more preparation than before.”

Obito did nothing to reassure Eri, who became even more afraid for the team (front lines? Front  _ lines _ ?!). Kakashi rolled his eyes, and smacked Obito in the back of the head. “You made her even more worried now, baka.”

“Hey, what was that for?!”

“Well, you clearly failed in making her feel better.”

“I did  _ not _ \--”

“Boys, stop it,” Rin scolded. She turned to Eri with a bright smile. “We’re going to head home now because it’s late. But I really hope-- _ we _ really hope--you had a good time today, ne? We love you, Eri-chan.”

Eri smiled in response, and gargled, “Eri love you!”

Rin smiled, and pushed the two still-arguing boys out of the house. But before Eri could even think about the possibility of now having free time, she heard an ominous,

“So. Genius Namikaze child, huh? We have a lot of talking to do, brat.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge shoutout to my beta, winteralley!

Eri calculated her chances of running out of the Namikaze household unscathed and managing to hide from the five shinobi before her: the result was a sad, but very realistic, 0 percent. But apparently, it wasn’t Eri Tsunade was annoyed with; it was Minato and Kushina, who both slowly turned to the Sannin with a pasted smile.

“I’m not quite sure what there is to talk about,” Minato answered calmly. 

“Cut the bullshit,” Tsunade’s words slurred together. “We already heard about it from Jiraiya.”

Minato turned to give Jiraiya a disapproving look. “I see.”

“We’re not hiding anything,” Kushina interjected. “Eri’s is just a lot smarter than what Minato and I thought children should normally be. We wanted to observe her before letting it be known by others that she’s smart.”

“Smart doesn’t quite cover it,” Orochimaru snorted. “She’s almost like a miniature adult with the way she can comprehend what we’re saying. But as soon as we advance our vocabulary into something beyond that which children can normally comprehend, she seems to become lost and relies on our body language to understand the conversation.” At that, the shinobi all turned to face Eri and caught her momentarily confused face (Eri was seriously taking guesses at the latter half of what Orochimaru had said).

Jiraiya scratched the back of his neck. “I just thought it’d be good for Tsunade-hime to take a look at Eri-chan, especially with--” He paused, and carefully added, “Especially with how there are… many children going missing and being recovered after having been…  _ altered _ . And with Iwa sending genetically modified children into battle.”

“We did not  _ modify _ ,” Minato spat the last word out, “ Eri’s genes. She was born this way.” Eri stared at her father, who had transformed into the man she had last seen in the Hokage’s office during her first visit to the Sandaime. He took no notice of her fear, and continued, “Kushina has already sent out a hawk to Hokage-sama, and we’ve received word that we’ll meet with him and Shikaku and Inoichi tomorrow to have Eri go through the same interview process as Itachi-kun.”

“Yeah, yeah, I get’cha,” Tsunade waved her hand, and touched Eri’s forehead gently, her hands gleaming green. The slug summoner switched into a professional mode, as her eyes sharpened. “I know you two would never do anything like that. But the orphans who  _ did _ get altered had their genes tampered with through the chakra-enhanced water they drank and the air they breathed in. No Konoha citizen has been found with altered genes yet, but I don’t want to take any chances.” With that, Tsunade pulled back, her hands returning to their normal skin color. “Especially not when the potential victim is my little cousin’s child. She’s fine; breathing stats, blood count--everything’s normal.”

Kushina let out a breath of relief and held Eri tighter. “Have we found the perpetrator?”

For a second, Eri glanced at Orochimaru (he’d once experimented on little kids, hadn’t he?). But she was surprised to see he genuinely looked equally as concerned as Jiraiya and Tsunade. 

Jiraiya shook his head. “I’m still working on it, but it’s hard to look for the bastard behind the orphans’ cases  _ and  _ look into the case with the Iwa soldiers.”

“By the characteristics of the infections, I’d say it’s likely Kiragakure is responsible,” Tsunade said, talking gulps from her flask. “I’m working on it.”

“Then you should probably stop drinking so much,” Orochimaru said sharply. Tsunade simply waved her hand, and said, “Stop worrying so much. I’ll be fine. Anyhow, I have to wake up early tomorrow, so I’m going to be heading back home. Eri-chan, your present’s in the corner behind Jiraiya’s.”

Before Tsunade could leave through the front door, Minato called out, “Shizune-chan is returning from the field tomorrow.”

Tsunade paused, but left without any further words. Jiraiya rolled his eyes, and trailed after Tsunade, adding that he’d also be at the meeting with the Sandaime, before closing the door behind him. Again, Orochimaru was the only one left with the Namikaze family.

“Well, then,” he coughed. “I’ll be off--”

“Present?” Eri interrupted, holding her hand out. (Truth be told, she just wanted to see his reaction.)

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed. “Modest, aren’t you? Just like your mother there--” Kushina laughed “--but of  _ course _ , it’d be rude of me to not give the birthday child a present. What do you want?”

Eri gave him a look of shock and horror. “No present?”

“I just don’t have it right this moment,” the snake summoner snapped. “I was busy, unlike your parents here.”

“Okay,” Eri drawled. “Then… Promise. You. Me. Friends.” She added, “ _ Forever _ .”

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. “You certainly have the subtly of a rock. All right. We can be ‘friends’.”

“Write,” Eri demanded. (Oh, she knew the significance of having promises in written documents).

“I don’t think that’s how friendships bloom, Eri-chan,” Minato chuckled. “Though, perhaps Orochimaru-san could promise to play with you some time?”

Actually, Orochimaru-san looked like he most certainly did  _ not _ want to  _ play _ some time, so Eri simply grinned and shouted, “Yeah!” (It looked like Kushina had passed down her sadistic tendency to make fun of geniuses.)

Orochimaru grumbled, “I’ll drop by when I can. But for now, I have to go out and actually work to protect the citizens of Konoha, instead of organizing birthday parties for little toddlers.” With that Orochimaru left, leaving a confused Eri. That last part certainly seemed like a jab at her parents, but since Orochimaru seemed to be on amicable relations with her mother, she was guessing he had something against her father. But why?

“Today was so exciting, ne?” Kushina asked, passing Eri over to Minato so that she could stretch her limbs. “And there’s so much to clean up.”

“I’ll clean up the mess,” Minato said. “You can put Eri to bed. She has to sleep early today, since the meeting with Hokage-sama is in the morning.”

At that, Eri made a face, but allowed herself to be washed up and tucked into bed by her mother. Once Minato finished cleaning up the mess (and shinobi could be some of the dirtiest, messiest assholes out there), he joined Kushina in singing lullabies to Eri. As usual, it did not take long for her to fall asleep.

* * *

  
  


True to his word, the Hokage met the family right before the day turned to noon. But the once familiar and welcoming Administrative center seemed oddly malicious, now that the family’s visit was serving a completely different purpose from the usual. Eri tried to calm her nerves, and attempted to return Jiraiya’s smile when the trio entered the Hokage’s office.

“Eri-chan, it’s been awhile, ne?” Hiruzen smiled. 

Eri glanced anxiously at the other two in the office, before she turned back to the Hokage and gave him a small nod. One man had a spiny beard and two parallel lines across his face, while the other had long blonde hair tied into a ponytail. She recognized the two of them as Nara Shikaku and Yamanaka Inoichi from the party.

The Hokage waved the group to the couches at the side of the office, and Minato allowed Eri to sit on his lap (she dreaded the day when she’d be too big to fit on his lap). Kushina sat to his right, with the Hokage sitting by himself on the left; across from the family, Inoichi and Shikaku sat. Jiraiya opted to stand, leaning against a nearby wall, his arms crossed.

“Hello, Eri-chan,” the Nara was the first to speak. “My name is Nara Shikaku, and this is Yamanaka Inoichi. We are your parents’ friends.”

Eri glanced at her father, who was trying to hide his smile. When the two made eye contact, Minato said softly, “We’ve saved each others’ lives more than once. We trust each other.” At this, Eri relaxed from her nervous stance, and properly shifted herself into a more comfortable position against her father’s chest.

“We’re just here to play games with you, Eri-chan,” Inoichi said cheerfully. “No need to be scared.”

Eri must’ve made a weird face, because Shikaku laughed and asked, “What’s bothering you?”

Eri peeked at her mother, who was nodding at her encouragingly. “No play. You ask me. Smart!”

(Now) not so surprisingly, both Shikaku and Inoichi seemed to understand her. “Yes, we are here to see if you are a genius or not,” Shikaku admitted. “But we  _ are _ going to do it through playing games.”

Eri nodded. “Okay.”

Inoichi pulled out several boxes. From the first, he retrieved a set of cards, which he split into two and separated across the table. He flipped several over, and demonstrated the act of putting the red pictures with the other red drawings and the yellow with the yellow.

“Can you do this?” Inoichi asked carefully.

Eri gave him a look of “You are so retarded, how are you a shinobi” before quickly stacking the cards in stacks of their respective colors. She was frustrated by her slow physical mobility, but Shikaku and Inoichi’s surprised faces made it up to her. She laughed, before saying condescendingly, “Easy!”

Inoichi smiled, almost uncertainly, before he pulled the second deck closer to her. Then, he asked, “Can you put these cards in order?” 

Eri repeated the same look from before as she placed the cards in order from 1 to 10. When Inoichi asked her to change the order, she did so just as easily as she had the first time.

“Okay,” Inoichi said, then paused. “Then let’s--”

Shikaku wordlessly reached down and pulled up a shogi board, and pushed a cup full of pieces to Eri.

“Oi, oi,” Jiraiya spluttered. “You can’t--that’s a  _ shogi board _ !”

“Yes, we all have eyes and can see what’s before us,” Shikaku drawled. He looked at Eri in the eye. “I just had a feeling that Eri-chan was getting bored with all these…  _ childish _ games.”

Eri blinked, then smiled in response. (Honestly, she was relieved that  _ someone _ finally understood her). “Play!”

Jiraiya turned to Minato and Kushina. “Have you two ever even taught her how to play?”

Minato and Kushina wordlessly shook their heads, watching Eri then Shikaku. Even Inoichi seemed surprised, though he looked like he didn’t intend on stopping Shikaku.

Eri irritably said, “Me. Learn” at the same time Shikaku mumbled, “She can learn.”

The two shared a look and smiled (Shikaku was definitely someone Eri was starting to like more and more). Shikaku then went on to explain the rules to Eri in the simplest terms as possible--and defined words like  _ general _ if Eri didn’t know what they meant--and it was not long until the two started the game. Truth be told, as Eri continued to play the game, she was overwhelmed by how familiar the game was to her. She was used to calculating the chances of this or that happening, of trying to figure out her opponent’s movements and intentions.

But ultimately, the game ended in her loss (and in a quite devastatingly, embarrassing way, she might add; she shouldn’t have moved her general piece into Shikaku’s area so early on in the game).

“Hn,” Shikaku narrowed his eyes. “Interesting.” He looked up from the board and at Eri. “Are you sure no one has taught you this before?”

Eri nodded. “Learn today.”

There was silence in the room.

“Yes, I can… I can see why Orochimaru-sama would think she’s on Itachi-kun’s level. Itachi-kun  _ understood _ what was being taught, and manipulated the new knowledge in the same way Eri had done,” Inoichi concluded. “She is definitely a once-in-a-generation genius.”

At this, Eri had to refrain from clapping her hands and cheering happily (hey, she’d just achieved one of her goals, all right?), because her parents were still quiet.

“She’ll be an unbelievable addition to our forces,” Shikaku mumbled, parroting Jiraiya, and he looked up. “If we start training her early, she’ll be on Kakashi’s level by the time she’s a pre-teen.” 

The Inoichi Clan head turned to the Hokage. “But, as I had also said for Itachi, I do not recommend sending her out on the battlefield before she has turned twelve. Geniuses like her tend to think differently, and need to become accommodated to the… reality of war. We should wait until she’s reached a fully bloomed age before even letting her get  _ near _ the frontlines.”

The Hokage slowly nodded. “I see. And of course, she would never be sent out until she was ready. Even Hatake-kun is being forced to wait until his teammates have caught up to his level of skill.” 

“Thank you, Hokage-sama,” Kushina mumbled, pulling Eri into her lap. “I was… I was just so worried--”  
“It is fine, Kushina,” Sarutobi said with a tired smile. “I, too, can understand the fear of sending my own children off to fight. But as the Niidaime had said, our children are our future. They are not disposable soldiers, but people who will grow up to be the pillars of our village. They must be treasured.”

With those words, any doubt that her parents had had seemed to disappear into thin air. Jiraiya also seemed to notice this, as his stance relaxed into a more casual one with his crossed arms dropping down to his side.

“I would also recommend that Eri-chan meet a lot of children,” Inoichi added. “Typically, intellectually advanced children choose to isolate themselves because of the differences in the level of comprehension between themselves and normal children, but they have to be sociable. We heavily focus on teamwork during children’s critical period, at least until they reach the necessary level at which they can protect themselves. Perhaps Eri-chan can have a play date or something of the like with Itachi-kun?”

“Yes, she already had a playdate settled with Itachi-kun,” Kushina confirmed.

“With Orocchin too!” Eri added.

“Orocchin?” the Hokage inquired.

“That--” Jiraiya burst out laughing. “Would be Orochimaru.”

The Hokage joined Jiraiya in his heartfelt laughter, while Shikaku and Inoichi tried their hardest not to laugh at the prospect of the famous Sannin-sama being degraded to having a pet name of “Orocchin”.

“But I don’t Eri’s intelligence should be broadcasted,” Shikaku said, turning the conversation serious once more. “I imagine the other nations have already caught wind about Konoha’s Yellow Flash and the infamous Uzumaki having a child; letting them know just how smart Eri is will paint a larger target on her than before.”

“Yes,” the Hokage nodded. “I agree. Try to refrain from letting people know her true intelligence as much as possible. And as for her training, I think it’d be best to allow Eri to grow up with her fellow children, seeing as she is physically the same as her peers. But for intellectual challenges, perhaps Shikaku could occasionally teach her a few things.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama,” everyone said in unison.

Honestly, this was the first time Eri had seen so many shinobi interact with the Hokage at once, and she could see how much power the old man held. Having her father bow to him… That surely meant something. With that dismissal, everyone besides the Hokage left the office, each going their respective ways after saying their farewells.

Today, Eri was perched on Minato’s shoulders as they headed down the familiar path to Team 7’s training area. (Though the trio dropped by an ice cream store at Eri’s insistence before continuing their journey). On their way to the training ground, Eri noticed a small boy (from a well-established clan, it seemed) surrounded by what looked like bodyguards, and noticed her own lack of protectors.

Curious, Eri asked, “Tou-chan, why me no hide?”

Minato chuckled as he brought Eri down from his shoulders to clutch her across his chest. He leaned towards Kushina to take the bite of ice cream from the spoon she was extending towards him. “Well…” He licked his lips. “You’re always with people who can protect you, just as that child was surrounded by people who he can be protected by.”

Eri blinked, and wondered if her father realized he had humbly bragged about his own skills while simultaneously insinuating all the men combined were equal to him. Then she shrugged. It was true, after all. 

“Senseiiiii,” a familiar loud voice whined. “You’re finally here.”

At first glance, Eri could not discern what Team 7 had been up to. There were boxes tossed carelessly to one side of the field, and toys of all kind in clear boxes. Upon closer inspection, she realized the toys had been organized into different boxes according to their usage.

“Tou-chan…?” She questioned, looking up at her father only to be horrified; he was wearing the same blank, innocent look from the night before.

“Can we train now?” Obito whined. “We’ve even put the boxes in alphabetical order. Kakashi’s been kicking up a fuss this entire time because you weren’t here, and--”

“I did  _ not _ !” Kakashi interrupted, his ears turning bright red.

Eri continued to search her father’s face for the answer, because surely he hadn’t ordered his team to  _ organize her birthday presents _ ? But her attempt to prove her father’s innocence was meaningless when he gave his team a bright, angelic smile, and said, “Yes! I’d be very grateful if you could stack all those boxes and put them to the side. Then we can get started on planning for tomorrow.”

Eri smacked her face with the palm of her hand. She had never known her father could be so… so  _ cruel _ . No wonder Kakashi hated her so much! Obito was enamored with anything cute (Eri conveniently ignored the fact that she’d complimented herself), and Rin was too nice to say anything about having to do petty work for her sensei’s child. Kakashi, on the other hand… while he did love doing whatever Minato ordered (he’d probably bark like the dog he was if Minato asked), he probably didn’t like the fact that he had to do everything for his sensei’s  _ daughter _ .

Kushina, who now held Eri, gave her an understanding, sympathetic smile. “I also found out he was like this when he started chasing off all the other guys. Not that anyone would ever believe me, of course.”

And Eri could see why no one could believe Kushina. Minato’s team definitely adored him too much to even whisper about him being manipulative, and everyone else in Konoha probably thought Minato was a saint, just as she had thought him to be.

Before Eri could begin to contemplate her meaning of life (her father was a manipulative bastard, oh kami), Kushina flapped open a picnic cloth, on which she settled both Eri and herself. She covered both of them in a warm blanket to watch the three little children get beaten up, with both of them snickering every time Kakashi was scolded. Once the two got hungry, they ate their warm lunch, ignoring the jealous looks Obito shot them every now and then (Eri felt a little bad about the fact that the rest of the team were going hungry, but she had a feeling Kushina was enjoying the taunt too much to say anything).

Finally, (once Minato decided the team was battered enough), the four shinobi trudged on over to where Kushina and Eri were. But before Obito could begin to complain about the aches in his body and Kakashi could ridicule him for complaining, Minato turned serious, and faced the children, his back to his wife and daughter.

“All right. Tomorrow, we are going to be very near the front lines. We are going to have to fight enemies. And while you have had contact with enemy shinobi before, it is going to be very different this time. It won’t be your typical C--or even B--mission.  _ We are at war.  _ There will be chaos. And you will feel fear. But we will be smart. We will be careful. And most importantly, we will protect ourselves and each other-- _ as a team _ .”

Simultaneously, the one chuunin and two genin straightened their backs, and shouted, “Hai!”

Eri watched the entire scene with some form of admiration and sick amusement. Her father had quickly changed the mood of the conversation from serious to grave, then to passionate. And just as easily as he had controlled the atmosphere, he instilled confidence and pride into his students. It was quite amazing and interesting (especially how conveniently he ignored the fact that they were eleven-year-old kids).

“Since tomorrow’s mission will take longer than before, we’ll end the training session now. We’ll meet at the front gates at seven a.m. Don’t be late—“ Everyone, including Eri, turned to stare at Obito, who turned bright red “—and don’t sleep too late tonight.”

“Urr, what should we pack?” Obito asked sheepishly.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. “How typical of you to not know.”

Minato stood between them, sighing. “And to think I’d only just finished my speech on teamwork. Obito, pack two days worth of warm, light clothes, since we can wash one set at night while wearing the other, your usual weapons, and enough rations for a month. Everyone except Kakashi, dismissed.”

The two children seemed to disappear, leaving only a waft of wind in their place. Kakashi shifted his weight from one foot to the other repeatedly, the red bloom across his cheeks the only proof of his embarrassment.

“Bakashi,” Eri said softly. “Stop fight. Need protect--you and Obito. Not safe out.”

“I don’t need Obito to protect me, and if Obito needs me to protect him, then he’s not a good enough shinobi,” Kakashi snapped. “And of course it’s dangerous out there; we’re at war.”

Minato and Kushina both blinked. “Did you understand all of that?” he asked.

“Yes,” Kakashi grumbled. “Isn’t that why you always made me join Rin and the idiot in babysitting the brat?”  
“No, I asked you three to work together to instill teamwork skills. But--Kakashi, since when have you known Eri could understand complex ideas?” Minato demanded. “Have you told anyone else?”  
“I’d hardly call this conversation complex, sensei,” Kakashi murmured. “And no, I haven’t told anyone.”

“Then let’s keep it that way,” Minato proposed, laying a hand on Kakashi’s shoulders. “Though I do agree with Eri. Please don’t fight with Obito. You’re both good kids, and you two need to protect each other.” When Kakashi said nothing and silence ensued, Minato simply sighed. “Dismissed.” With that, Kakashi disappeared in the same manner as the former two.

Kushina stood up, and laid a hand on Minato’s shoulder. The two of them shared a look, a passionate glance, before turning to pick Eri up, collect the stacked boxes, and return to their home. 

That night, Eri could not sleep, though she’d put up an act for her mother. Would her father be safe? Would Rin and Obito return together with the entire team? Kakashi would protect both of them… Wouldn’t he?

For the first time in both lives, Eri began to pray. 

_ Please.  _

To whom, Eri had no idea.

_ Please. _

She just wanted everyone to be safe-- _ and home _ .

 

* * *

 

The next morning, after breakfast, Eri hung onto her father’s neck with as much strength as possible. Kushina sighed for the third time that morning, while Minato rubbed Eri’s back.

“Eri-chan,” he whispered into her ear. “Tou-chan has to leave now, or he’s going to be later than Obito.”

“No,” Eri grumbled, hiding her face against her father’s neck. “Don’t go.”

Gently, Minato tried to pry Eri’s fingers from his neck. But as soon as Eri started to cry, Minato pulled her back in close and patted her on the back.

“What’s wrong, Eri-chan?” Kushina asked. “You were fine before.”

Eri managed to get through her sobs, “Bad feeling.”

“I’ll be back soon,” Minato promised. “Really!”

Eri did not stop her wailing, but allowed herself to be taken into Kushina’s arms. She was scared. Something big was going to happen, and she had no idea when it would be. But she just… she just didn’t know how to get it across in words. For the first time since her waking in the Narutoverse, Eri cursed her limited vocabulary not for some obscure “order the adults around” goal, but because she couldn’t express her unbound love for her parents. 

“Okay, ah, um,” Minato took a piece of paper out from his pack, and bit his thumb. Quickly, he pressed his thumb on the paper, and there was a brief light that glared from beneath his thumb. He then picked the seal up and handed it to Eri, who just stared at the piece of paper as she sniffled.

“This will tell you that I’m safe,” Minato said. “If something happens to me, you’ll be the first to know.”

“...Okay.” Eri took the piece of paper, which was surprisingly warm, and clutched it to her chest. Then she remembered what would happen if things took a turn for the worst, and began to hiccup as tears swelled in her eyes again. 

“Tou-chan needs to go now, but I  _ promise _ I’ll be back safely with Rin and Obito and Kakashi.” Minato leaned in to kiss both Eri and Kushina’s foreheads, and hugged them both tightly. He held still for a second or two. “I’ll see you in a month. I love you.” Then he looked up and gave them the reassuring Namikaze smile.

Kushina smiled back, and gave him a small wave. Eri copied her mother’s gesture, and watched as her father disappeared before her eyes, awed by his infamous  _ hiraishin _ (though certainly not for the first time).

The room was silent and solemn, until Kushina turned and smiled at Eri, trying to make a blatant attempt to lighten up the atmosphere. Eri appreciated her mother’s efforts, but could not get rid of the sinking fear she had for her father. War was not a game. 

When Kushina saw that Eri would not cheer up, even at the prospect of ice cream, she poked Eri in the stomach. “All right. Since both Eri and kaa-chan are sad because Minato-kun left us, let’s go find some friends to hang out with.”

Eri gave her a blank look, to which Kushina returned a sadistic smile. The redheaded child whimpered a bit (it was never fun to be on the receiving end of that smile), willing her father to return home as fat as he could and tightening her clutches on her father’s gift.

  
  
  
  


Twenty minutes later, after having been changed into more ‘appropriate clothes’ (more like into a silly  _ pink _ yukata), Eri found herself in front of the Uchiha Clan gates. It was strange, to be here; the only Uchiha Clan she had ever read about was dead. So as Kushina strolled through the streets, all Eri could think about was how the compound was like a ghost town, despite its livelihood and surprisingly high population. Apparently, the usually xenophobic Uchihas were used to the Uzumaki boldly walking around in their compound, because they only looked at her once, rolled their eyes, and returned to their work.

Finally, Kushina stopped before the most elegant and well-furnished house in the compound (and that said something because even the ‘lowest’ of the clan had fucking koi ponds in their backyard). She rapped on the front door several times obnoxiously, before calling out, “Mikoto! Fugaku!”

The door slowly slid open not long after her declaration. Eri found herself eye-to-eye with a relatively tall man with shoulder-length dark hair, and equally dark eyes. He wore a black kimono with an Uchiha fan symbol engraved in the front of the kimono over where his heart was. (Maybe being beautiful was an Uchiha thing because he was really--Eri abruptly dismissed the thought once she remembered Obito’s boyish good looks). He gave her mother a disapproving look (Eri added him immediately to her hit list), and asked, “What brings you here?”

“Fugaku-kun!” Kushina said happily as she entered the household uninvited (it was apparent Fugaku had noticed the rude entry, but  _ suck it _ ). “Eri-chan and I were so lonely, we decided to drop by.”

“I see,” the man replied icily as Kushina took off both her and Eri’s shoes, and entered the hallway, forcing Fugaku to flatten himself against the wall. “Well, please do make yourself at home.”

“Mikoto-chan!” Kushina called out, ignoring Fugaku’s deep sigh.

There was a slight thump, and Mikoto’s head popped out from the corner of the hallway. The Uchiha First Lady beamed. “Kushina! What a pleasant surprise.”

Kushina hurried over to where Mikoto motioned them from, and the mother-daughter duo entered a warmly furnished room. The sliding door on the opposite side of the room were open, exposing the room to the outdoor backyard of the Uchiha main family (Eri now realized they were fucking rich what with their zen garden and huge-ass koi pond). Eri, who was facing the opposite side of her mother as she was being carried the conventional way, watched in amusement as Fugaku smacked himself in the face. The two made eye contact, and Eri laughed. Fugaku simply rolled his eyes, and walked away.

“Eri-chan came with me too,” Kushina said eagerly, and at her name, Eri turned backwards. “Look, look, Eri-chan. That’s your new friend, Itachi-kun.”

Before Eri could give her mother the “I’m going to be friends with whoever I  _ want _ to be friends with” look, she did indeed notice the small boy in front of her. He was… he was actually really cute. He had long bangs that just barely reached the bottom of his eyes, and his eyes were doe-like in their size and color; he had his mother’s small nose and his father’s pouty lips. The boy looked at her with a controlled dark gaze (though being the baby-size he was didn’t help him look more intimidating), and then looked back at his own mother.

“Itachi-kun,” Mikoto said softly. “This is Namikaze Eri-chan. She is Kushina’s daughter, and just a year younger.” She paused, then added. “She’s also the same as you.”

At this, the boy turned to her with newfound curiosity, and looked her up and down. Eri desperately turned to her mother because surely she wouldn’t--

“Here, Eri can sit next to Itachi-kun,” Kushina said (in faux and a perfectly controlled level of cheerfulness) as she lowered Eri right next to Itachi. “Mikoto-chan and I’ll be in the kitchen. Don’t do anything naughty!” She winked, and dragged the startled Mikoto out of the room, shutting it behind them after they’d left.

There was an awkward silence. Eri decided she could use the time to take a nap. While she didn’t hold any prejudice against Itachi (like how he might grow into a selfless mass murderer in the twisted sense), she  _ really _ doubted she could hold a proper conversation with him. (He was like, what, two years old? He wouldn’t even be able understand what she would say to him anyways).

“Hello,” the boy said. “I’m Itachi.”

(And of course geniuses had to break all stereotypes she had about them. Typical.)

But the Uchiha continued to stare at her, as if he expected a response. Annoyed, Eri answered, “Un. Hi.”

At this, Itachi beamed brightly, startling Eri. 

“What?” she asked nervously, scooting backwards from where she’d been sitting. 

Itachi merely inched closer. “Same!” he declared, pointing at Eri then at himself. 

Eri paused as she realized Itachi really was a genius. Sure, Eri could comprehend complicated theories and ideas and the significance of connotations in conversations because she was mentally 23 years old, but Itachi was only two years old at most. Here he was, a toddler and fully able to comprehend that Eri was also capable of high comprehension, and declare this analysis. No wonder he’d entered the ANBU at such a young age.

“Eri?” he asked. (And he was really cute, god. She wondered…)

Eri inched closer to him, and grabbed a lock of his hair. Itachi’s eyes widened in shock, but still stayed still. Eri gently released the lock of hair, and ran her fingers through Itachi’s hair, and… (it was  _ so soft. _ How did it work?!). 

“Nn. Same,” Eri approved, releasing the boy from her grips.

Itachi gave her a bright smile, and reached to pull her into a hug (it seemed Uchihas only became incapable of hosting or expressing emotion once they reached pre-teen age). Eri tried to resist his tight hug, but the swaying momentum forced Eri forward. She let out a small  _ umph _ as she fell on top of him. Itachi giggled as Eri tried to struggle to get back up.

The door to the room slammed open, and the two startled toddlers looked up to stare at the equally shocked Fugaku, who opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

“What?” Eri demanded. Then, because Fugaku’s eyes narrowed into slits that just  _ dared _ Eri to be more rude, she added, “Fu-kun. Need something?” The Uchiha patriarch growled in annoyance, spun on his heels as he slammed the door shut, and yelled (or what would count as yelling for an Uchiha), “Kushina! Your daughter--” The rest was drowned out by his loud stomping noise as he retreated to wherever.

Eri rolled her eyes, and pushed herself upwards, struggling to get back on her butt. It really was hard being physically a baby. During the struggle, she caught Itachi’s eye, which was widened to fill up half of his face.

“Wow,” Itachi breathed. “Brave.”

“No,” Eri argued. “Fu-kun rude.”

At this, Itachi burst out laughing, his voice escalating louder once he noticed how hard Eri’s arms shook from trying to get up. 

“ **Stop laughing** ,” she blurted out in frustration. “ **Goddamn it** .”

Itachi did stop laughing to stare at her. Eri realized she’d spoken to Itachi in English. And once Eri managed to roll off of Itachi, she had a brilliant epiphany. She turned her head to stare back at Itachi, who was now looking at her with a new kind of wonder, and felt a sadistic grin twist onto her face. She felt justified about implementing an additional portion to her original plan.

After all, there was no rule stating she  _ couldn’t _ teach someone in the Narutoverse English… right?

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let whichever holy deity that exists bless my beta winteralley for being an amazing beta.

“ **Government** ,” Eri said, then repeated in Japanese. “Government.”

Itachi listened in fascination.

“Say,” Eri commanded.

“G— **Government** ,” Itachi parroted. Eri smiled, and Itachi smiled back. 

“ **Good boy** ,” Eri cooed, and patted Itachi’s head. Itachi blushed. 

Eri had visited Itachi’s house daily since her last visit, as her mother found her father’s absence more bearable while in the company of her friend (or so the jinchuuriki whined to Fu-kun, who responded by slamming the entrance to the house shut behind Eri and her mother). Every day, Kushina left Eri with Itachi in the morning, and took Mikoto to the room next door. 

During this time, Eri taught English to Itachi, who was, admittedly, learning it at an incredibly fast rate (she was not ashamed to admit he was learning English a lot faster than she was learning Japanese). Once it was time for the two toddlers’ lunch, they were brought together to the kitchen, where they would eat lunch with the solemn Fugaku, the quiet Mikoto, the chatterbox Kushina, and the prankster Eri, who took it upon herself to poke Itachi in the side whenever she caught him glancing at his father too often (it was her personal belief that being too concerned about the opinion of a strict man like Fugaku would only lead to misery). 

Then, the two children returned to their original room with their mothers, who taught them various hand patty games; during this time, Eri pretended to be not as smart as she was when she was alone with Itachi, mainly because her mother had not yet told her to drop the act. Eri knew Itachi noticed the change each time, but he thankfully did not bring the topic up.

Once the sun was set, Eri would then leave with Kushina, feeling smug every time she noticed the sad gleam in Itachi’s eyes as he waved goodbye. The two had gotten quite close throughout the past few visits. In fact, a couple of days after their first encounter, Eri had determined Itachi was loyal enough, and shown him the seal her father had made for her, which she kept tucked between her chest and shirt.

Currently, the two were in the first part of the phase, with the sun high up in the sky and Eri teaching Itachi more and more vocabulary.

“ **Love** ,” she taught. “Love.”

“Luhboo,” Itachi copied, but Eri shook her head.

“ **Love** ,” Eri said. She repeated the word, and opened her mouth so Itachi could copy the movement of the tongue.

“ **Love** ,” Itachi said, even his ‘v’ on point. Eri blinked, then patted Itachi’s head again. He really was a genius for a reason.

“ **Car** ,” Eri stated. 

“ **Car** ,” Itachi said. Then he asked, “ **What is car** ?”

Eri paused, and said, “ **Nevermind. Forget it** _. _ ”

“ **Nevermind** ,” Itachi parroted. “ **Forget it** .”

Eri grinned, but rubbed at her cheeks, a frown beginning to form on her face. There was a limit to which she could teach him words in this manner, seeing as she herself had a limited Japanese vocabulary and some English words simply didn’t exist in this world. But she would try, until she found a new way.

“ **S** _ — _ ”

The door to the room slid open, and Eri clamped her mouth shut. The two toddlers shared a look, then glanced at who had just opened the door. Eri’s palm dampened with sweat (the person hadn’t heard, had she? Because Eri  _ really _ didn’t have an excuse about how she’d come up with an entire language by herself).

Thankfully, the Uzumaki standing in the doorway didn’t seem to have noticed. Instead Kushina put her hands on her hips, and smiled as she said, “It’s time for lunch, chibis.”

“Chibi?!” Eri exclaimed with disbelief. “Noooo,” she grumbled, even as extended her arms out to be held by her mother. “No chibi.”

But to the surprise of both Kushina and Eri, Itachi grabbed onto Eri’s outreached hand, and shook his head. “Let’s walk. Together.”

Eri gave him a “why would I do that when I have someone to do it for me?” look, but Kushina laughed and agreed with Itachi, leaving the gaping Eri. Eri pouted, but allowed herself to be dragged up by Itachi. Using the Uchiha heir as a weight balance, she toddled over to the kitchen with much difficulty, and let out a sigh of relief when they reached the dining table.

Eri’s stomach let out a grumble, and her ears flushed pink. When Itachi sniggered, Eri nudged him with her elbow, but otherwise refrained from saying anything except the quiet, “ **Cram it** _.” _

For once, Fugaku made small talk as they ate, but the topic of the discussion left Eri queasy, her stomach churning with nervousness.

“They’re calling for more shinobi to come out of retirement, including clan heads,” he said, halfway through the meal. “It seems Iwa’s army has grown in size again.”

Eri glanced at her mother, whom she knew had temporarily retired because of her. Kushina nodded, her attention focused on the dishes before her. “Yes, I received a letter from the Hokage yesterday to return to action.”

Everyone in the kitchen room stilled, and Kushina paused as well, looking up from the delicious dish of cooked roots vegetables (the best kinpira Eri had ever had, she had to admit). “What?”

“But mothers of toddlers are exempt from being ordered back into battle,” Mikoto exclaimed. Eri glanced at her in surprise; the Uchiha matriarch had always seemed to be well-collected in front of Fugaku, so it was her first time seeing her so distraught.

“That’s only for the wives of clan heads,” Kushina shook her head. “After all, if all the clan heads go to war,  _ someone _ has to lead the clan in their stead.” 

“Well, what about Eri-chan then?” Mikoto’s voice quivered.

Kushina narrowed her eyes, before carrying over a bunch of kinpira over to her rice bowl. “I… was thinking about taking her with me.”

“No!” Itachi yelped. Even Fugaku seemed surprised.

“Who else would I leave her with?” Kushina sighed, then took a bite of kinpira with rice. “Almost all day cares are closed nowadays—not that I’d ever leave her with half of them, dattebane—and the Hokage is too busy with diplomacy work that—”

“Are you  _ trying _ to insult me, Kushina-chan?” Mikoto growled (Eri was finding today to be quite the dramatic and interesting day. She regretted the absence of popcorn in the Narutoverse). “What, is our friendship of nearly ten years  _ nothing _ to you?”

Kushina blinked. “But—”

“Wouldn’t you take care of Itachi if I were gone?”

“Of course, but—”

“But what?”

“I just… Since Fugaku-kun has also been called back into action, I thought you’d be busy, what with your Clan work and Itachi-kun to look after,” Kushina said, bewildered.

“ I can manage my time well, thank you very much. So as soon as both you and Minato-kun leave for active duty, Eri-chan will stay with us,” Mikoto asserted, her voice just as assertive and dominant as anyone would expect a clan head’s wife to be.

“Okay,” Kushina concurred, lowering her chopstick from her mouth. Her eyes darted from Mikoto to Fu-kun, who gave her the don’t-look-at- _ me _ look. “That’d be great.”

(Eri was starting to realize just how Mikoto and Kushina had become such good friends in their youth).

Once lunch was finished and the table cleared, Mikoto left the room. Kushina hurriedly carried Itachi and Eri into their usual play room, and gently lowered the two toddlers onto the cushions in the middle of the room. She then rushed over to the corner of the room, where she’d left her pack, and retrieved a thick, red book.

“Look, Itachi, Eri,” Kushina showed the toddlers the front page. “This is a fuuinjutsu laced book that my mother read to me when I was a little older than you guys right now. But this book is special, because if you—” she flipped open to a random page, and pressed a word, “—do this, the book will explain for you.”

Loyal to Kushina’s word, the book began to drawl, “ _ tenno _ . The royal leader of an empire.”

Eri’s mouth gaped, and she locked her gaze with Itachi, who seemed equally as bewildered. 

“How?” Eri all but demanded.

Kushina smiled. “I’ll teach you guys a little bit of fuuinjutsu when you can finish this book and understand it completely.” She glanced up at the doorway, then passed on the book to Itachi. “I’ll go make your unhappy mother happy, then come back, so help Eri-chan read this book, ne?”

Eri frowned at her mother’s condescending command, but didn’t get the chance to voice her irritation when Kushina left the room before Eri could open her mouth. With a sigh, she allowed herself to be settled in next to Itachi, who flipped open to the first page. Not long after starting the book did Eri realize why the book would have an automated dictionary attached: there were  _ kanji _ in this book. She huffed, and forced herself to focus. She was going to learn the mechanism behind this book’s fuuinjutsu, even if it killed her.

 

In the end, Eri and Itachi didn’t manage to get even halfway through the book. When Kushina and Mikoto both re-entered the room, Eri noticed the Uchiha matriarch was still stiff and cold towards her mother, but only so she could tease Kushina more than anything else. And by then, the sun had long set, so Eri and Kushina moved to the front door, saying goodbye to Mikoto and Itachi. Before the two could leave, though, Itachi perked up and exclaimed, “Eri, your book!”

Eri shook her head. “You keep for now.”

“But… it’s yours,” Itachi’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Ehh, it’s OK,” Eri shrugged. “We friends.”

Itachi beamed, and waved his hands. “Un. Bye! Come again.” Eri waved back with a smile.

On their way back home, Kushina told Eri the one advice she would always keep in her heart (one that would help her throughout the rest of her life): “Only anger an Uchiha if you’re confident you can undo what you’ve caused.”

 

The next day, Eri was pleasantly surprised to open the knocking door (a skill she recently developed) and find the (in)famous snake summoner on the other side. He was dressed in a classy blue kimono, his shoes in straw sandals. He looked bored and impatient, his arms crossed and his body tense.

“Eehh?” Eri’s eyes widened. “Orocchin?”

The man’s eyes narrowed. “My name is Orochimaru. You may call me Orochimaru- _ sama _ .”

Eri smirked and pointed. “No. Orocchin.”

Orochimaru tensed as he inhaled, then released his breath through his nose. He then pointed at himself and said again, “Orochimaru. You don’t even have to add the—”

“Orocchin,” Eri interrupted, nodding to herself. She moved to the side, and gestured for the man to enter. “Come in.”

“You mean ‘welcome’,” Orochimaru automatically corrected. 

“Yah, yah,” Eri waved her hands in the air. 

Orochimaru rolled his eyes as he entered the house, and removed his shoes. He looked around the entrance of the house, and turned to Eri. “Where’s your mother?”

“Clean body.” Eri reached up to tug on Orochimaru’s hand towards the living room.

“You mean ‘taking a shower’.” Orochimaru allowed Eri to drag him, and was pushed onto the couch. “Are you not going to ask why I’m here?”  
Eri looked up at him with a surprised look, and pressed a book into his hands. “To play with me. Friend!”

“Well, yes, I did drop by so I could keep my promise,” Orochimaru squinted his eyes as he read the title. Eri snuck under his arm and leaned into the man’s cold body (he really was like a snake in both personality and body). “ _ The Governments of Ninja Villages _ ? Why in kami’s name would you want me to read this to you?”

“Hard,” Eri complained. “You explain.”

Orochimaru’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I’m glad you’re using my visit for something productive, but isn’t this just a bit too hard for you?”

Eri gave the snake summoner an equally unimpressed look. “Serious?”

“Do you know what  _ dokusai _ means?” Orochimaru demanded, pointing to a word on the back cover of the book.

“No,” Eri deadpanned. “So you explain.”

Orochimaru sighed. “It’s about a government system, where the civilians—the normal people—decide what’s going to happen with their village.” He flipped open to the front page. “There are thirteen ninja villages…”

 

Ten minutes later, Kushina entered the living room, and was surprised to see Eri sleeping on Orochimaru’s lap while the man himself continued to read the book, murmuring to himself, “That’s not true, that kage wears  _ red _ robes on Tuesdays.”

“Orochimaru-san?” she inquired. 

He looked up with one eyebrow cocked. “Kushina, the books you buy Eri don’t seem to be quite accurate. This book suggests Konohagakure is on friendly terms with Kumogakure, which we both know is completely false.”

“It was written a while ago,” Kushina shrugged.

Orochimaru laid the book down beside him. “It’s important that Eri receive proper education if she is to reach her full capacity as a shinobi. I’m going to have to update your entire library.”

“I couldn’t trouble you with something like that.”

“Knowledge is power,” Orochimaru interrupted. “A shinobi should use it to the best of her full potential.”

Kushina laughed. “Thank you, then.”

The Sannin shrugged. “It’s nothing.” He glanced down at the small body lying on his lap. “Her language speaking skills have improved significantly.”  
“Yeah,” Kushina agreed. “Ever since she’s been having daily playdates with Itachi-kun, she’s gotten a lot better at speaking.”

“I guess socializing can be beneficial for brats,” Orochimaru muttered. Eri stirred and struggled to get up. Orochimaru (Eri noticed) pushed her up with his hands, supporting her weight. When she turned to him with an inquisitive look, he informed her, “You fell asleep around the time we started reading the second chapter.”

“You complain too much,” Eri yawned, and stretched her arms. “Good?”

“No, the book is terrible. I’m going to have to get you a new one or write one myself,” Orochimaru stated.

“Okay.” Eri rubbed her eyes, and patted Orochimaru’s legs. “Good pillow.”

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. “I’m glad you got something out of my visit today.”

Kushina laughed. “Your seal is on the dining room table, Orochimaru-san. I’ll brew some tea.”

“Thank you,” Orochimaru bowed his head. When he tried to stand up, Eri continued to cling onto his robe and mewed like a cat (she had to admit, pissing Orochimaru off was seriously fun stuff). He exhaled sharply, and picked Eri up with him and walked into the dining room, where he sat with Eri on his lap.

Eri watched in amazement at the seal before her, going so far as to drop the hair she’d been holding onto. There was kanji spread around the paper, lines of words radiating from the circle smack dab in the middle. The spaces between the words were even, and the number of words at the top of the seal was equal to the number of words at the bottom of the seal. It was… It was  _ art _ .

“What do you think?” Orochimaru asked with a touch of what seemed like pride.

“Beautiful,” Eri breathed, tracing the words. “You make?”

“Yes,” Orochimaru confirmed, then frowned. “But there are some mistakes in it that I wanted your mother to take a look at. She’s an incredible fuuinjutsu master, even better than your father, if I might say so myself.”

Eri ignored the not-so-subtle jab at her father. “What seal for?”

“Do you know the  _ Saikan Chushutsu no Jutsu _ ?” Orochimaru asked. Eri shooked her head in response. Orochimaru continued, “It’s a medical jutsu that Tsunade-hime made. It’s a technique that removes—takes away—poisons from someone’s body by using a kind of chakra-controlled liquid, which goes into the body and allows the poison to pass through all sorts of organs—body parts—and finally out of the body.”

Eri nodded in encouragement, to which Orochimaru continued. “This seal is supposed to do that for specific kinds of cells, which I can then study without disrupting—interrupting—the outer physical part of the victim. We can use this seal on the orphans whose genes—the very small things that make up the body—were genetically altered—changed—without having outside factors influence the inner mechanisms—systems.”

She gaped, and examined the seal again. Orochimaru was a genius, as well as Tsunade. She was starting to understand why people had looked up to him so much in the anime, and had been disappointed to such a great extent when he’d betrayed them. And speaking of which, how had he even ended up betraying Konoha? He seemed to genuinely want to help Konoha and its people. What had driven him away? (And how was she getting all these details about the anime, but not about her previous life?—again, the sharp dull pain).

“It’s interesting, ne?” Kushina called out as she entered the dining room and placed two cups of tea on the table. 

“Un,” Eri nodded, and turned to Orochimaru. “Orocchin very smart. Eri like smart.”

Orochimaru did not say anything as Kushina sat across from them, and Eri missed his expression because she had hugged him. When she leaned back, she saw him don a poker face; but behind his mask, he seemed to waver, as though he didn’t know how to respond.

“No worry,” Eri reassured him. “Fact, not compliment.” 

Orochimaru snorted, reverting back to his familiar asshole facade. “How nice of you to say that.” He glanced at the seal, then back at Eri. “Well, what do you make of it?”

“Art!” Eri replied immediately. Kushina nodded her head in agreement.

“Yes, it is beautiful, but what about the content?” he asked.

Eri rubbed the back of her neck, and gave a small laugh. “No know fuuinjutsu.”

Kushina chuckled. “Yes, you’ve got a lot of studying to do.” 

“You don’t know fuuinjutsu?” Orochimaru demanded, and faced Kushina. “Why haven’t you taught her yet?”

Her mother looked surprised by Orochimaru’s outburst. “She’s still having difficulty reading and understanding kanji. She can only read hiragana and katakana, ‘ttebane. And she doesn’t know how to write, much less with perfection, which is imperative in fuuinjutsu—”

“She doesn’t know how to write?” Orochimaru asked in exasperation.

“No,” Kushina said slowly. “She turned one year old last month, dattebane! Of course she doesn’t know how to—”

“That’s ridiculous,” Orochimaru denounced. “I’ll teach her how to read kanji and write then.”

The mother-daughter duo shared a confused look.

Orochimaru wiped his face of any and all expression. “I can use the extra perspective when creating new seals.”

Eri shrugged. “OK.”

With that, her mother and the snake summoner turned to the seal, and discussed the importance of balance, which was lacking in the second to last row of the seal. Eri listened as much as she could, trying to absorb as much as she could in the process. But inevitably, biological tendencies took over, and Eri nodded off to sleep in the (surprisingly comfortable) lap of Orochimaru (she really had to stop falling asleep so easily, but she didn’t want to stunt her growth. Truth be told, she didn’t want to end up being short).

The day after Eri’s fun visit with Orochimaru (he had even stayed over for dinner, and had taught her how to write hiragana), she was surprised to find Itachi… quiet. The boy was normally bubbly, though not arbitrarily talkative, and always eager to express his thoughts and ask for new English words to use. But today, he had her back towards her, and was reading the red book by himself. The sound of the pages being flipped was the only thing that occupied the otherwise noiseless room.

“Itachi?” she inquired. “ **What’s wrong** ?”

There was no response, and Eri wobbled over to sit next to the boy, who then shuffled away.

“ **Hey** ,” Eri said, her eyebrows bunching together. “ **Tell me why you’re mad** _. _ ”

“ **I’m not mad** ,” Itachi said, his eyes roaming the pages of the book too fast for him to actually be reading. But Eri could tell he was very upset.

“ **Yes, you are** ,” Eri argued.

“ **No, I’m not** _. _ ”

“ **Yes** .”

“ **No** .”

“ **Yes** !” Eri burst out. “ **Stop lying** !”

“ **Why do you think I’m mad** _? _ ” Itachi slammed his book shut. 

“ **Because—** ” Eri paused. Itachi had a good point. Why was she so sure he was mad? His tone was calm. His behavior indicated he was upset, but she had a feeling it wasn’t just as simple as that; he was angry  _ and _ disappointed. But how did she know that? In fact, how had she known Orochimaru had been moved despite his poker face the day before, that Tsunade’s attitude had changed, that her father had been suspicious of her far before the truth had been revealed? Because those people were trained jounin (and extremely good ones at that), and she shouldn’t have been so certain about their emotional states. She turned back to Itachi, who was staring at her with a solemn look, and finally realized Itachi’s aura was coiled tightly, and vibrating at a familiar hum, which she’d always associated with anger and disappointment. 

_ That was it _ .

“ **The aura** _ , _ ” Eri whispered. “ **Oh my God** _.” _

“Eri?” Itachi asked. She now saw that he was getting worried, what with his aura uncoiling from within itself, and vibrating at a different frequency of ‘concern’. 

“ **I have been unconsciously associating the movements and frequencies of people’s auras with their temperament** ,” Eri murmured to herself. “ **That makes so much sense! No wonder I could decipher the intentions of well trained shinobi. They can’t control the movement of their auras because the auras are reflections of their inner emotions; hell, they probably don’t even know something like that even exists.** ”

“Eri!” Itachi shouted. Eri locked eyes with him, realizing he had been calling for her the entire time. 

“ **Ah, sorry** ,” she said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“ **It’s OK** ,” he replied. “ **What happened** _? _ ”

After Eri explained to Itachi about the existence of auras and their relationships with people in a mix of Japanese and English, and how she had been connecting the two together, Itachi gaped.

“ **That’s amazing** ,” he said with wonder. “Kushina-san **and** Minato-san **know** _?_ ”

“No,” Eri shook her head. “ **I never told them because I didn’t think they’d understand** .”

Itachi nodded. “ **Makes sense. It related just to emo—emotions?** _”_ _  
_ That was a good question. Eri replied, “Un. **Even when** tou-chan **uses jutsus, they only change when his emotions change.** ”

“ **Not like Sharingan** ,” Itachi noted, then added. “ **Still perfect for shinobi** .  **Use often** !”

Eri nodded. “ **Yeah, it’s definitely an advantage I can exploit. But… don’t tell anyone about it** _. _ ”

When Itachi gave her a quizzical look, Eri explained (parroting Orochimaru), “ **Knowledge is power. Let’s keep especially this power to ourselves** _. _ ” 

“ **OK** _,_ ” Itachi paused. “ **And… I’m sorry, got** jealous _._ ”

“ **Jealous** ,” Eri corrected before hugging him. “ **It’s OK. I should’ve told you that I wouldn’t be able to come** _. _ ”

The two then opened up the red book together, agreeing that they would finish up until the middle of the book, at the very least, by the afternoon.

  
  


Eri had a feeling her mother felt bad about visiting the Uchiha compound almost daily, because the next day, Kushina turned their afternoon meetings into a fuuinjutsu lesson. Eri herself enjoyed it, and was exicted to see how Itachi would be challenged by conceptual theories. 

“Calligraphy is very important in fuuinjutsu,” Kushina explained, her voice serious. “Essentially, we are using words as a medium for chakra to take action on paper. It involves the simultaneous use of both the yin-release and the yang-release, but we’ll get to those two later. First, the basics!”

Eri cheered, at least until Kushina got out two long strips of paper, a pad of ink, and two paintbrushes.

“To perfect calligraphy, you must first learn how to write,” Kushina said in a deep, calm voice (but Eri knew Kushina was just dying of laughter inside because she would be too, if she were in her mother’s position). “Itachi-kun, how much have you mastered so far?”  
“Only hiragana and katakana,” Itachi admitted.

“Hmm.. Then today, you and Eri will practice writing hiragana,” Kushina decided. She pushed one set to each of them, and sat with her shins tucked under her. “But first, you have to learn how to prepare your ink.” Eri’s mother pushed a block of ink and a flat, black rectangular block to each of them. She demonstrated how to grate the block against the grinding surface, to keep the block vertically against the surface and to not press too hard. She then added a little bit of water, before mixing the carved bits of block and water together to make the final ink product.

“Only people who don’t appreciate  _ true _ fuuinjutsu art use pre-made ink,” Kushina declared, before pausing to mutter, “Oh kami, I sound like Daichi-sensei.” 

When Eri and Itachi finished making their ink, Kushina held both of their products in her hands, inspecting their quality. The fuuinjutsu master nodded, then placed the ink before the children again. “Good. Now, we’ll begin our practice. Here, watch how I use the brush.”

Eri and Itachi watched in awe as Kushina dipped the tip of the brush in the ink with her right hand, her left hand splayed against the ground to keep herself balanced. Kushina lifted the brush with practiced precision, and lowered the tip onto the paper. 

“You want to make sure you follow the proper sequences of the words,” her mother instructed as her brush moved with a surprising amount of grace. “While you do so, you want to allow the brush to follow the flow of the word. Don’t force it. We will practice with the hiragana ‘ah’ first.”

Eri and Itachi both tucked their legs under them to emulate Kushina, and dipped their pens in the ink, only to be startled when Kushina barked, “Eri, you dipped it in too harshly; you’re going to end up ruining the brush hair that way. Itachi-kun, that was too light; you want to make sure you have enough ink on the brush to keep you going while you create the seal. Do it again.”

The two struggled to follow the Uzumaki’s orders. Eri would’ve found how she struggled to hold the brush in her pudgy little hands funny if it weren’t for how frustrating her failure was. Her arms shook, vibrating from trying to hold a steady position with a goddamn brush in her hand. 

“Your arms are quivering, Eri,” her mother scolded. “That was good, Itachi-kun. Both of you, work to keep your arms balanced. Now, try writing the hiragana ‘ah’.”

Eri brought the brush closer and closer to the paper before her, trying her hardest to maintain some form of control over her arm, but her muscle tensed, sending her arm into some kind of spasm. With a cry, she dropped the brush onto the paper. She couldn’t do it. Her motor skill was too limited, and her forcing her arm to work magic was not helping.

And by the look on her mother’s face, Kushina had known something along this line would occur. She removed Eri’s brush from the top of the paper, amused by her daughter’s frustration and high expectations.

“That’s okay,” Kushina chuckled. “You’re one year old, ‘ttebane. Don’t look so sad. Eri, use your finger instead. We can let you use the brush once you can hold one without having your arms move around like a dying duck.”

Disgruntled, but not completely discouraged, Eri stuck her index finger in the grinded and wet ink next to her, and dragged her finger across the page to draw the hiragana ‘ah’. Apparently, finger dexterity also wasn’t natural yet for a one year old, because her ‘ah’ was something akin to a giraffe with a rather short mouth and a fat tail. When she glanced at Itachi’s work in comparison, she wanted to go die ( Itachi noticed her embarrassment, because he opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but clamped it back shut.)

“I see you’ve worked on your hiragana before, Itachi-kun,” Kushina noted. “That’s quite beautiful. You can move on to write the hiragana ‘ee’. And Eri… Do that again. Those little lines that stray from your letter are indications that your hands are shaking too much. Be more confident in the way you write.” Eri glanced at her mother, her finger wavering in the air above her ink. Kushina gave her a soft smile. “You can do it.”

Eri once again dipped the tip of her finger into the pool of black ink, before lifting her arms up and lowering it from above the paper before her. She drew the straight line, then followed up with the round curve that wrapped around the straight line. Once she was done, she stole a look at her mother, who was examining her and Itachi work. Eri let out a sigh of relief when her mother nodded.

“If you twist it around, it sort of kind of looks like the hiragana ‘aah’—or a flying monkey, but I digress. You can move onto ‘ee’ now, Eri. And Itachi-kun, the left part of the ‘ee’ needs to be sharper at the end. Repeat it.”

Both Eri and Itachi submerged their utensils, Eri her finger and Itachi his brush, in the ink, and drew.

“Eri, you need to pause after you finish your drawing, then  _ lift _ your finger off the page. Don’t drag the ink around like that. Itachi-kun, you didn’t make it sharp enough. Both of you, repeat the ‘ee’.”

Itachi made no blatant sign of annoyance, but Eri could tell from the corner of her eye that he was getting a little pissed (most likely at himself). Mikoto also seemed to have noticed, looking up from her work, to watch her son in amusement. No one scolded the Uchiha heir about his mistake, as Fu-kun (as excited as he had been about the lesson) was missing; he’d been called back to the war the day before (Eri tried very, very hard to not remember her mother was due to leave in the next week).

“That’s sufficient. Now, we’ll move onto ‘oo’...”

  
  


By the end of the session, Eri’s arms were trembling from holding her arm out for so long. She simultaneously questioned the meaning of life ( how could she hold a spoon to eat her food, but not a brush? And why did holding her arms out for so long tire her so much?) and answered them (most likely because the spoon was made lighter through fuuinjutsu, which explained the kanji on its handle; and because she was one year old, she literally was weak). Itachi seemed to show similar signs of stress and fatigue, though to a lesser degree. Later, when the two children were cleaning up the mess they’d made over a tarp with which Mikoto had been smart enough to cover the presumably expensive tatami mats, Itachi assured Eri that he’d taken lessons in hiragana and katakana before, and that she didn’t need to worry about her being behind. 

Eri chortled, before pointing out she was (physically) only a year old, and that it was  _ normal _ for her to not be able to hold brushes and paint, much less write with grace as he had. 

Itachi gave her a strange look, before asking, “Not… not mad?”

Eri returned the look with full vigor. “About what?”  
He was the first to break eye contact. “ **Nevermind**.” Eri watched as Itachi tottered away (and tried really hard not to laugh at how adorable he was). 

As soon as the room was properly cleaned up, Kushina resumed the normal routine of taking Eri home. Once the Uzumaki and Namikaze were done putting on their coats and shoes, Eri waved at Itachi goodbye. He looked back at her with a look different from before, clearer, in a way, before waving back. 

The streets were relatively clear of other people and cold (Eri tried to ignore the fact that the streets were so quiet because most shinobi and their friends had entered the war, as her mother would soon do). On their way home, Kushina pointed to the stars in the sky, and named several to her as Eri listened in awe. Kushina promised Eri that later, she would explain the importance of the positioning of the stars in space-time fuuinjutsu, but only after Eri learned the fundamentals.

Kushina and Eri returned to the Namikaze home, and Eri stayed in the living room with her papers filled with hiragana while Kushina worked in the kitchen to make their dinner. With a smile, Eri traced the letters she had drawn with difficulty. She was getting better, though there were limits to which she could focus and draw. Admittedly, her drawings were horrible, the lines shaky and ugly, but Kushina said nothing about it, only nodding in approval (probably because Eri was a baby with limited physical functions). Eri’s sleeves were also a little damp with ink, as her arms had given up on her several times throughout the session (but being the monster master she was, Kushina had forced Eri to continue, saying the lessons would teach her  _ discipline _ ).

Eri thought it had been a peaceful day, if she ignored the pain in her arms.

At least until her father’s seal against her chest began to burn.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Here's the next chapter! I'm planning on updating regularly on Wednesdays, with chapters being around 5000 words, so please look forward to a constant, steady update pattern. To all my new followers and favorite-(ers?), thank you! And to those who reviewed, double thank you! For those of you asking whether Kushina and Minato are going to die or not... Well, that really depends on Eri's ability and her actions. I can't force my character to do anything they don't want to do, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Great thanks to winteralley, who worked with me really hard on this chapter!

* * *

The world spun as Eri screamed in alarm. She stared at the burning it wasn't burning per se but it was—

(Oh my god was he ok what was this he's hurt? oh no, no, no, what about KakashiandRinandObito are they safe? Please don't be dead oh my god please don't)

— it was getting hotter and hotter. It would burn her if she kept clenching onto it like this, both hands firmly clutching the seal. But she just couldn't bring herself to care.

"..ri?"

Kushina appeared before Eri in a blink of an eye, but Eri could not remove her eyes from the piece of paper she was gripping between her small hands. It was strange how the paper was shaking so rapidly— but then again, that could've just been her hands trembling.

(he's alive, right? oh god how does this fucking thing work tou-chan how could you not tell me how this fucking _works_ haha i'm not a genius like you i can't just figure this out please be safe please please)

Eri blinked, strong pressure on the sides of her upper arms holding her tight. The room spun on a tilted axis, and Eri squinted her eyes. "Kaa-chan?"

"It's OK, Eri," her mother brought her close. "He's OK. He's OK."

Eri breathed in, and held her breath, before slowly exhaling. She felt her body shake along with her quiet sobs, her shoulders quivering.

"Look," Kushina mumbled into Eri's ear as she slipped the seal out of Eri's small hands. "It's still intact, isn't it? If he— if he had been badly hurt, the seal would've ripped in half or turned to ashes." Eri watched as her mother traced the random patterns on the seal. "Hmm.. Yes. Looks like he only just got burnt a little bit. Your tou-chan is very strong, isn't he? He'll be fine. It's OK. Tou-chan is fine."

Tears collected and fell from Eri's eyes, leaving her a soggy mess.

(If this was what loss felt like, then she was never going to let him go out to war again. She hated the enemy who'd hurt her father, hated the Hokage who ordered him out onto the field, hated the world for being so cruel.)

That night, Eri dreamt of something just as terrifying. There was smoke in the air, around her, on her clothes and body, choking her in her lungs. She ran and ran in the darkness, looking for a place to hide and wanting to scream but not doing so because _they_ would get her. There were loud tutt tutt tutt's in the air, innocuous in sound. But they would kill her if they went through her, those bullets, so she ran and ran and ran because she was a _coward_ and everyone in her team was dead dead dead.

* * *

Understandably, Namikaze Eri was not in a good mood when her father's team returned from their mission the next week. She stood on her own two little feet as she glared at the gate of the village's walls with her mother, her arms crossed and tense. She was trying to make herself promise that she wouldn't beat her father up into pulp for giving her that mini heart attack, but couldn't quite bring herself to make the promise.

But her stiff and stubborn wall of anger crumbled down once she spotted her father's aura, even before she saw his electric-shock bright blond hair sway in the wind. He was accompanied by (one, two, _three)_ all of his team members, though they looked like they'd had better days. No one was limping to a significant degree, though Minato was missing his jounin jacket. The team itself was silent, even the usually boisterous Obito quiet.

"Tou-chan," Eri called out, trying to calm her quivering voice to no avail. "Tou-chan, tou-chan!" She ran towards her father, who had long spotted her and given her a smile, and felt herself being lifted into his embrace. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, feeling her heart break when she smelt smoke. She clenched the collar of his blue sweatshirt. "I thought... I thought you were _dead_."

"Your seal left her with quite the impression," Kushina said with a new emotion Eri couldn't quite place. "...and with me as well, 'ttabane."

"Sorry," her father whispered into her hair. "A lot happened on the mission. We have to head straight back to Hokage-sama's office."

"I'm going too," Eri declared before her mother could say anything more. She wasn't going to let her father out of her sight for the entire week, if she could help it. Eri spared a proper glance at her father's team, and truth be told, was not happy with what she saw. Rin was grimacing every time she took a step, so she probably had sprained an ankle; Obito was glaring at the ground as he walked, and Kakashi was tense. But Eri had a feeling it wasn't with each other that the two of them were upset at.

It seemed her mother had also noticed the tension within the team, because the (in)famous Uzumaki was also quiet, taking Minato's hand as she walked beside him. Once they were in the Sandaime's office, (as Eri watched in fascination) the strain seemed to increase.

"We left for the mission at 0900, February 12th, the 12th year reign of the Sandaime. As reported previously, the Hiraishin has not yet been tested with multiple younger shinobi, so Team 7 travelled by foot. Thus, it took us four days to reach the Land of Fire's border. Once at the 14th border post at 2100, southeast from the Land of Earth, we set up a camp, with two shinobi alternating between night shifts. As soon as morning broke at 0600, we packed our camping gear, and entered Kusogakure territory. However, contrary to the information we'd received regarding the village, the land we entered was empty, and without any Konoha shinobi. Upon further inspection, we found all comrades to have been killed by Iwa nin, after which we were ambushed by the same suspected nin. There were approximately fifty of them that had attacked us. Another team of Konoha nin that had been dispatched after our team finally had caught up, and worked with us to fight back the Iwa nin. As soon as all 50 enemy forces were defeated at around 1600— at the cost of our comrades' lives— more Iwa soldiers began to appear from the farther inward lands of Kusogakure. After making the decision that it would be unwise to stay where we were, we made a tactical retreat and arrived back at the 14th post at 2000, which we found to be filled with dead Konoha shinobi. After protecting the land from any invaders for the next two and a half weeks, we were replaced by the next team, and ordered back into Konoha," Minato said in monotone, his arms held crossed behind his back. If Eri couldn't see auras, she'd say he was almost calm. But because she could, she knew he was upset by the death of his comrades. There were probably some ex-classmates on the decimated team, by the looks of it.

There was silence as the Sandaime inhaled his daily dose of nicotine and released it in an exhale. His eyes were downcast, and his brown aura vibrated with anger and grief. "I see." He stood up, and looked at the team members. "Good job holding the enemy back from further entering into the Land of Fire. By order of the Hokage, Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin are now promoted as chuunin, appropriate through field experience."

Unlike what Eri expected, no one on the team was excited about the news. Kakashi's aura was agitated, like he wanted to say something— but she knew he wouldn't, never to the Hokage, never break his little fragile shinobi mask. Rin just seemed sad and _tired_. Obito, on the other hand…

"Hokage-sama," the Uchiha said in an unfamiliar low voice. His head was bent so his eyes cast downwards, and Eri could see his shoulders shake.

"Yes, Obito-kun?" the Sandaime asked.

"Why… Why must we fight?" Obito took a deep breath. "In… In the— the Iwa shinobi were _kids_. Younger than me and Rin and Gai and— but they weren't even, even as fast or as smart as Kakashi. They had no reason to be sent out at that age." He whispered, "They were so scared."

"You seem to forget Obito-kun," Sarutobi walked in front of the crying boy, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulders. "You are a child as well. And though it breaks my heart to send you all to the battlefield, you and Kakashi-kun are shinobi, just as Minato and I are. And as shinobi, it is our job to protect Konoha. Don't you want to protect Konoha and the people who live in it?"

"Yes. I want to protect my precious people," Obito answered, wiping the tears from his eyes.

"That is why we fight," the Hokage returned to his place behind his desk. "The sooner we end this war, the sooner those children will be returned to their homes, and the sooner we can have our shinobi return home."

With that, the three chuunin were dismissed with orders from Minato to meet at the same training ground the next morning. The Namikaze family were alone with the Hokage. Sarutobi slumped into his chair, and leaned forward, his face covered by his hand.

"Hokage-sama. Though they were killed too quickly for my team to notice, the Iwa children were indeed the modified kinds," Minato continued his report, and took a step forward to place a scroll on the Hokage's desk. "In the scroll are the bodies that I could seal into paper. This should help Orochimaru-san and Tsunade-san's investigation."

(And yes, her father was awesome, because who the hell fights off fifty enemy nin with just seven comrades, two of them genin and one inexperienced, while simultaneously collecting the bodies of the people he's killed for a long-term benefit? Her father, that was who.)

The Sandaime lowered his hands from his face, and Eri could understand how the Hokage had aged so fast in the anime. His creases on his face seemed to be have deepened, the roots of his hair getting more faint and fading into a light brown. His eyes did not meet Minato's as he reached for the scroll. "I see. Thank you. You are dismissed."

But before Eri's family could leave the office, the Hokage called out, "Both you and Kushina will have to leave for duty in two days. If Eri needs someone— "

"It's okay, Hokage-sama," Eri's mother spoke with a gentle smile. "Mikoto has promised to care for her in my and Minato's absence."

The Hokage nodded to himself. "Ahh, Mikoto, yes, that'd be a good choice." He paused. "Well, then… get a good rest until then. And make sure… make sure you unwind your team. It was their first kill, no?"

Minato's lips tightened into a thin line. "Yes, it was. I'll be sure to check with everyone."

Finally, the Namikaze household left, walking through the streets of Konoha. Perhaps it was because Eri didn't normally leave her home or the Uchiha compound that it was only now that she was realizing the impact of the war. The previously loud and rambunctious market was now stifled. There wasn't as much food as there used to be; the carts that used to overflow with fruits and vegetables were now only half full. The people themselves were tense around each other, as though they suspected one or the other to pilfer from their store. Eri's grip on her father's mantle of hair tightened. She didn't like the people so… so cold.

"It's okay," Kushina repeated for the second time. "Things will change."

She turned towards her mother, who was looking straight at the road they were walking on. And Eri felt herself fill with confidence as she regarded her mother's straight posture, calm eyes, and confident stride. Her mother was strong, and her father was strong. Eri shifted to emulate her parents' postures.

The only thing left would be to make sure she got strong too, so that she could protect her parents' backs from unexpected danger.

* * *

The next morning, Eri was not permitted to watch the team train. Apparently, her father had been impressed by her team's individual achievements during the previous battle ("Obito used a katon jutsu in the right time and place, Rin rattled her team's ears off _during battle_ , and Kakashi kind of managed to squeeze himself into a role involving the other two," her father beamed). But Konoha nin did not promote Kiri virtues for a reason, and today's training was supposed to more solidify their somewhat maturing team relationship. Eri had a feeling Team 7's training was going to involve a lot of 'bonding over pain', what with her mother whispering ideas excitedly into her father's ear.

Honestly, she wanted to follow the team into the Forest of Death to make sure her father wouldn't disappear. She wasn't worried about how dangerous the Forest of Death was; her father would keep her safe, even if Madara himself was the threat, because her tou-chan was a badass, genius ninja. But her father rejected her proposal. He was adamant about her being in a safe place, especially what with the excessive training his team would do involving _Hiraishin_.

Apparently, the act of space-time travel was extremely disorientating (how surprising) when the person being moved hadn't consciously made the decision to teleport himself. It was okay for full-grown ninja, because they were used to being flung around upside down, twisted into a weird position, and generally leading disorienting lives, but it was a harsh activity for inexperienced ninja, no matter how smart they were (like Bakashi, for example). Thus, the day was supposed to be full of "hi sense—how'd I—wait a mo—oh god I'm going to be siIIiickkK". (And of _course_ she didn't want to just visit the training session to watch Kakashi be sick all over the place!).

Still, her father vehemently disagreed, and disappeared right before she could pull her little puppy dog eye trick on him (he was adapting faster than expected to her weapon of cuteness). So Eri was stuck in her home with her mother, because Itachi was apparently too busy for her to visit (Eri swore the little bastard was pulling this fake event just to get revenge on her, the grudge-holding twerp). Seeing as she wasn't going to be allowed to see her father until the evening, Eri declared she wanted to see her _other_ best friend.

"Orochimaru-san is busy, Eri," her mother scolded. "He doesn't have time to— "

"He promised I visit when I want," Eri interrupted, rolling from one end of the couch to the other (oh god she was so bored). "And jiji won't play with me. And Jiraiya is not in Konoha, and Tsunade-san's busy."

"Tsunade- _san_?" Kushina cocked her eyebrow. Eri gave a small 'yes!' when she saw her mother packing Eri's things into a small pack (really, her mother spoiled her just as much as her father did).

"Tsunade-san's _scary_ when busy," Eri paused, remembering the time Tsunade had drank the entire table of alcohol at her birthday party, then added. "And just scary in normal time too. Kaa-chan, take also my hiragana paper that I did!"

Her kaa-chan laughed and slid in the paper filled with Eri's (incomprehensible) hiragana writing into the bag. "All right, all right." She reached down and picked Eri up into a tight embrace, Eri's legs wrapped around her mother's waist. "I mean… I do remember him saying you could visit. I guess Orochimaru-san could babysit you for a while. I have a bunch of stuff I need to restock on before I leave, anyways." Eri flinched at the implication, to which Kushina patted her back with gentle hands.

Eri buried her face in the crook of her mother's neck, inhaling the familiar scent of spices and citrus, and missed how they'd left the house in typical ninja speed (her parents had a thing about walking at civilian speed when they were feeling lazy).

When her kaa-chan's footsteps slowed, Eri looked up from her hiding place, and was surprised to find the two before Konoha's general hospital. To be honest, she thought that Orochimaru would have created a place for himself, someplace clean and isolated, where he could do whatever the hell he wanted without people bothering him with stupid questions. When the mother-daughter duo entered the hospital, a blonde, tall nurse glanced at them, then narrowed her pupil-less, clear blue eyes suspiciously, watching the duo from behind the front desk.

"Senpai," the nurse laid a hand on her hips, and glared. "Pray tell, what is it _this_ time that you've done to your daughter?"

"Hehe," Eri watched in amusement as her mother rubbed the back of her neck. "We're just here for Orochimaru-san." She turned to Eri and smiled. "Eri, this is Yamanaka Ayako-san. She's my junior from the Academy, and Inoichi-kun's sister."

Eri glanced at her nervous mother, then at Ayako, before making gurgling noises. Apparently, that was the right decision, because Ayako chuckled, as though Eri had made the typical baby response, before straightening her back again. "She's only one year old, Kushina-senpai. Be careful."

"Yes, yes," Kushina glanced around the hospital. "Ne, do you know where Orochimaru-san's office is?"

Eri watched in fascination as Ayako stiffened, her aura becoming rigid and vibrating nervously. "Orochimaru-sama's lab would be on the third floor, the last door on the left."

"Ah, thank you," Kushina nodded. "And about the Allied Mothers Force, I don't think I can join. It was an honor to be invited, but I've been reassigned onto the active forces by Hokage-sama. I also think it would be best if my… I would do better on the front lines, considering my abilities."

Ayako sighed, easing into a more relaxed stance. "Ahh… I see. Yes, yes, that's true. Well, no worries. I'm sure this war will end soon, and _then_ you can join our force." With a wink and a wave, the Ayako nurse then disappeared.

Kushina finally turned away, and began to look for the staircase.

"Ne, kaa-chan," Eri tugged at her mother's beautiful hair. "Why is Ayako scared of Orocchin?"

Kushina walked west, where there was an opening in the wall. "Well… Some people are just not used to how Orochimaru-san is different."

"Different?" Eri asked in alarm. She didn't notice anything strange about him (besides his abnormal body temperature, and the typical I-am-a-genius arrogant attitude.) "How?"

The opening turned out to be for a hallway, from which Kushina pulled herself away from. She then turned east, where there was another opening. "He kind of resembles a snake, and some people think it's scary. And he kills people with snakes, which people think is weird," Kushina admitted.

Eri's eyebrows furrowed. "But… But shinobi kill with triangle knives and wear weird clothes and stand upside down on trees and—" She stopped when Kushina gave her a strange look (which made sense, seeing as her mother had grown up with all of this being the norm).

"Orochimaru-san is just a bit different from the rest of Konoha, and that's why people think he's strange," Kushina said, a sense of finality in her tone.

Finally, (with more help) Kushina climbed up the stairs, arriving at the door of Orochimaru's lab twenty minutes after their arrival. Eri thanked God she hadn't inherited her mother's lack of sense of direction, because she was _really_ good at knowing where (— a pain, a sharp jab in her temple as her thoughts cut and she couldn't can't remember what she was going to think). Before Kushina could knock on the door, an irritated Orochimaru opened the door, his lips twisted apart into a snarl.

"Orocchin!" Eri squirmed in her mother's grip, reaching out for the snake man, who took her in his arms with practiced ease. She inhaled his familiar peppermint scent, and grinned at him. "I'm visiting you."

Orochimaru clamped his mouth shut as he moved into the room, Kushina following behind him. Eri glanced around the room: there were two office desks on the opposing sides of the room, with rows of lab tables spaced evenly against the wall on the opposite side of the door. There were tubes and cages with mice and paper and graphs scattered all around the lab tables.

"Yes, I can clearly see that. What I'm wondering is _why_." Orochimaru gave Kushina a pointed look.

Kushina gave him her best 'I am innocent' look (which was worth nothing, because neither Eri nor Orochimaru was convinced). "Eri-chan wanted to visit you, and I need to get something done— alone." She plopped down the small pack on the nearest chair, which didn't go unnoticed by Orochimaru.

He shot Kushina his trademark unimpressed look. "You want me to babysit your daughter?" The question ended up sounding like a statement.

Kushina beamed, already having snuck halfway out the door. "I'll be back in time for dinner— hopefully. Eri's diapers and snacks are in the bag. Don't feed her too many sugary things or she'll get a sugar high. Thank you, Orochimaru-san!" Then, Eri's mother was gone.

Orochimaru and Eri locked eyes, and she realized (somewhat in horror) that the Snake Sannin would be changing her dirty diapers. "You are going to get potty trained today, whether you like it or not," he hissed. (Eri hmm-ed and haw-ed as she questioned whether watching Orochimaru squirm really was worth her dignity.)

When she noticed a spike of aura from behind her, she tugged away from Orochimaru's tight grips to glance at the man in the corner (with an incredible ability to mask his presence, it seemed). His face and neck were slick with sweat, his eyes darting from her to the Sannin. He was _scared_ of Orochimaru. And it seemed Orochimaru was aware of this (but he wasn't happy about it, not at all, not when he expected— )

Eri frowned. "You. Out." She felt Orochimaru snort in amusement, but she kept her glare on the man before her. "Out!"

The man collected all his paper and shoved them in his pack, his fingers shaking. "Y-Yes!" he yelped, and ran out of the room past the two.

"Aren't you a bossy Namikaze," Orochimaru tutted, lowering Eri onto the couch. "Now I won't have an assistant for the entire day."

"He's _mean_ ," Eri snapped.

"Of course," the Snake Sannin rolled his eyes. "And tell me when you need to urinate during any time of the day, so I can show you how to use the toilet." His eyes narrowed into thin slits. "I will _not_ be changing dirty diapers."

Eri shrugged. "Whateva'." She plopped down sideways on the couch. "Orocchin, pass me bag."

"Uzumaki needs to teach you manners before you end up adopting the way your mother speaks, including that ridiculous verbal tic of hers," Orochimaru muttered, but strolled over anyway (because he was Eri's little bitch— not that she would ever say that out loud).

"The paper, _please_ ," Eri gave him a brilliant smile with all her teeth. "See? Polite."

Orochimaru wordlessly dug around the bag, and finally pulled out crumpled wads of paper. He cocked his eyebrow. "Eri, I have taught you better than to keep trash in your bag."

Red bloomed across Eri's cheeks, followed by a rush of heat. "T— That— Not _trash_. It is my hiragana paper!" she growled. "My first writing words. Read it!"

"You mean these are your first written words," Orochimaru corrected as he uncrumpled and straightened out the pieces of paper. He was still, but Eri's eyes followed the way his aura trembled. "Well." He paused, then opened and closed his mouth several times. "Oro _cchin_. I'm glad you didn't make the effort to write out my full name. I wouldn't want you to burden yourself with something so bothersome."

He rolled his eyes, but a smile graced his lips. "Though it's difficult to distinguish what exactly was written on the paper. The words look like they were written with your finger."

Eri laughed sheepishly. "Brushes are heavy."

"With me as your sensei, that'll be the least of your worries," Orochimaru waved the paper in the air. "Now, what shall I do with this?"

"It for you." Eri frowned. "And you my _sensei_? Says who?"

Orochimaru sniffed as he folded the paper into a square, and tucked it into the inner collar of his kimono shirt. "Says me. You have a lot of potential, which can only be cultivated by someone with great talent and intelligence: namely, _me_." He inspected the inside of the bag. "I'm sure your parents won't mind it. In fact, they should be honored to have a respected shinobi like myself teach their child."

Eri burst into an explosive giggle, which died down once she realized he was only half-joking. "Heh… OK, not funny. I get it."

"Now," Orochimaru laid all the contents from the bag onto the coffee table and frowned. "Why in kami's name would you need a bunch of strings, marbles, and— _five_ books." He gave her an unamused glare. "I don't have time to read you five books, _hime_. I need to actually work."

Eri reached for the string, which was twisted and tied in random places for her to untangle. "String for finger de— dex… dext…"

"Dexterity?"

"Yah. String for finger dextri— _dexterity_ , marbles for hand muh— mm, how do you say? The… theeeeee—"

"Muscles?"

"Yah. Marbles for hand muscles. And I can read books to me," Eri smiled.

Orochimaru crossed his arms. "All right, but if you start whining like last time about how your arms hurt from holding the book…"

"I proh'mise I won't do that," Eri beamed. "You do your job, I do my."

He glanced back at the table, most of which was covered in sweets. "Please don't tell me you eat that amount every single day."

Eri blinked with as much innocence as she could. "No…?"

With a huff, the Snake Sannin turned around, and headed to his desk. "Not only must I teach you how to read and write, I also need to change your life diet."

Eri cocked her eyebrow, twisting to stare at Orochimaru. "My kaa-chan and tou-chan can do it."

"Your _okaa-chan_ is a child, and so is your o _tou-chan_. Actually, in this case, your father has some semblance of cognitive abilities, so I'm sure he would be a sufficient parent; your mother, on the other hand… Anyhow, the reality is your father is on the battlefield, and your mother will be gone soon too. _Someone_ has to make sure you don't turn into a barbarian in the meantime," he grasped a folder, and walked over to the cage he'd examined before. "Don't you agree?"

Eri had a feeling she was supposed to feel offended by the man's insults, but because he was a jackass to everyone, she simply shrugged. "OK. Makes sense."

"'Makes sense', she says. Child, learn to speak in full sentences," he scolded, tapping the pad before him with his pen.

"Uh huh," Eri mumbled, her focus on the tangled string before her. Her stubby fingers just couldn't get the right amount of pressure on the right places. (The exercise had been introduced to her and Itachi by her mother, when the two had visited the Uchiha compound. Eri still couldn't tell if this was a genuine finger exercise for shinobi children or if her mother was fucking with her. Either way, it was a fantastic distraction.)

Eri looked up from her work when she heard a loud poof in the room, her eyes widening once she realized what Orochimaru had summoned. The snake was a blood red, with orange, uneven blotches decorating the snake's skin. Its tongue slipped out of its mouth, flapped around in the air, and slid back. She slid up Orochimaru's forearm, and curled around his hand.

"This is Hanako," a rare smile flittered across Orochimaru's face. He placed the snake beside Eri, who watched in fascination. "She's a corn snake."

Eri watched, her eyes wide in fascination. "Hello."

Hanako looked back at her, then at Orochimaru. When he made no obvious movement, the snake turned to climb onto Eri's lap, and slither up and down her side. Eri laughed in delight, and turned to Orochimaru (who was watching with something similar to fondness). "Does she like me?"

Hanako hissed in response before Orochimaru could say anything. He cocked his eyebrow at the snake, who ducked her head and quickly slithered away from his view, and down Eri's legs.

"Yes, she thinks you're very cute," Orochimaru returned to his place behind the mouse cage. "She can keep you company while I work."

"OK," Eri chirped, petting Hanako, and reached for her strand of string.

A comfortable silence settled in the room, the only other sound the hum of the machines of the room and the sound of Hanako moving around Eri. From the corner of her eye, Eri could see Orochimaru examine the rats one by one, and write down details that she herself did not notice. He seemed to be used to lab work, as he moved with grace around the room, his eyes needing only a few minutes to assess the situation.

Eri allowed her fingers to untangle the knots on the string, to pull and tug without much thought. Her life had been pretty stable, with her mother always home to take care of her, but this was one of the most comfortable silences she'd ever had the joy of experiencing. There was no need to prove herself, because Orochimaru already knew she was smart. She didn't feel the need to express her love whenever she had the opportunity to, because he would be here, safe in Konoha (unlike her parents who would leave, who would have to be in battle, who would...) where she could talk to him whenever she wanted to.

She was enjoying life. Her family and her friends were precious to her. She loved them so much, just watching their faces light up with joy, or listening to their cheerful laughter, or listening to them rant about fuuinjutsu was enough to make her happy too.

She did not think of the war that they would soon leave to participate in. She did not think about how close her father had been to being burnt to ashes. She did not dare to imagine the future tragedy of her father's team. Because she was going to change all that. She would never, ever let one of her precious people die.

Ever.


	7. Chapter 7

Urmagod. Here is Chapter 7. It's a bit embarrassing that this chapter is a week late, especially considering I promised a steady and constant update in the chapter right before this. But my amazing beta (winteralley!) noticed some critical weaknesses in the prior TWO versions of this chapter, and since, ya know, high quality is important, I figured it would be better for the chapter to be late than to be rushed. As always, huge thank you's to my beta, who somehow manages to find time to edit my stories while working! She is amazing.

Regarding questions about Eri's pairing, I think it's still a bit too early for us to conclude anything. I'm quite certain neither Eri nor Itachi (who is only, like, two years old...?) regards the other romantically (which would actually be quite creepy), and we haven't even met Shisui yet, so I think it's fair that we wait to see what'll happen with our young Namikaze.

Please enjoy!

* * *

Not long after he heard Eri fall asleep, Orochimaru finished his work. He had observed how the lab rats had reacted to having the genes of the modified children within them. The results were as expected: most of them died, the foreign gene spreading throughout the rats' nervous system and wrecking what control the rodents had over their bodies. It was a fascinating process to witness, though the minute-based observations were tedious to complete.

What was unexpected was the amount of aggression that the rats showed in the few hours before their death. As though knowing they would depart the world of the living, they scurried around, fighting other rats in the vicinity if there were any, or tearing up the area around them. They did not respond to any other forms of stimuli, including food, electric shock, and changes in environment. All they seemed to be focused on was on attacking others in their presence or tearing things apart. That was not to say they turned mindless, however. If the mice were taught a skill prior to being injected with the genes, like finding a way through a maze, then they could repeat the same skill. The skill would be distorted into a form of aggressive action, but it would still be derived from the original technique taught.

This would explain the mindless, and almost fearless, way the mutated children were reported to have attacked Konoha shinobi. After all, shinobi with little experience, especially children, were supposed to cower in the presence of experienced shinobi of the other villages. But the Iwa children had been spurred on by something, one Konoha nin reported as "a creepy, mysterious evil".

Orochimaru scoffed at the superficial and supernatural explanation. The evil was explained by the science: the implanted virus had spurred on the more aggressive nature of the children, while maintaining the ninja skills and techniques they had learned at whatever form of academy they had.

Despite all his efforts, he didn't yet have an explanation for the physical transformations of the children. If he could just figure out what was exactly was making the children's bodies mutate into growing those extra horns, or the third arm, he could find a way to reverse the changes, which was apparently the goal of Sarutobi-sensei. He didn't know what his sensei wanted with the "fixed" children, but he would do as he was ordered (because that was what Konoha shinobi did, they were _loyal_ , they followed orders, they didn't question. He was a Konoha shinobi too, then, wasn't he?)

With a frustrated sigh, Orochimaru turned to lean against the wall, his eyes landing on the sleeping Namikaze child. She was lying on the couch on her side, her shoulders rising with the rhythm of her inhale and exhale. Short flaming red hair shrouded the child's face, spread around her head. Her fingers occasionally twitched, the only sign she had yet to enter REM sleep. Hanako had strewn herself over the child's arm, enjoying the up-down ride. Here, again, was something that was still a mystery to him. The red-headed child adored him, trailed after him when she could, asking questions about this and that. She even gave him a nickname "Orocchin", with an attitude Orochimaru dared to label 'fond.'

Despite his lack of care for social etiquette, Orochimaru was no fool when it came to the social behaviors of human creatures. He knew he was feared and admired by the Konoha population, by both shinobi and civilians. Nearly everyone found his appearance strange, his curiosity to be intimidating. Humans were afraid of things they could not understand or sympathize with, and dehumanized all that conflicted with their way of life; thus, those around him labelled him to be something apathetic, and distant and cold.

In part, it was true. He was not warm to others, and felt no need to be so. Emotions intruded on logic, anyhow. Thus, it was illogical for him to feel any need to be superficially kind to others so he would receive more affectionate treatment from the Konoha population. Besides, the fears of people did not hinder his contribution to Konoha, which he believed to be of greater importance than the treatment he received from the people around him. In actuality, fearful people were easier to predict and interpret. Emotional people could be controlled.

Even those who admired him and felt some form of connection to him were easy to understand. Kushina saw him as a comrade, one who also understood the hardships of being treated like an outsider for a part of them that they couldn't change. Minato respected him as his sensei's teammate, one who knew thousands of jutsus and who could always reign the infamous, reckless Jiraiya.

But the way Namikaze Eri regarded him was different, in a way that he could not understand. The way she treated him and spoke to him intrigued him, more than her genius did. Psychologically speaking, children had to mirror and echo the actions of the adults around them. Plus, physical attributions of strangers were important factors of how children—especially toddlers Eri's age—reacted to said strangers. Yet from the first time Eri met Orochimaru, she seemed intrigued and attracted to the man in an intellectual way.

Orochimaru figured the child's curiosity resonated with him, as he saw a younger version of himself within her. Truth be told, he wanted to see what was going on in that tiny head of hers, what whirled in her brain, what molded her to seem so mature in her understanding of the world. He wondered how she would react if he were to inject the first Hokage's cells into her, if her accelerated intelligence would influence her compatibility with the cells.

There was a lot of potential within the child that he wanted to cultivate. He wanted to see how he could influence her growth. She was a younger version of Hatake Kakashi, the cautious little brat, and far more vulnerable and receptive to another's manipulation. Yet at the same time, he wanted to leave her be, prevent any and all external factors from changing her, and examine the end product. He could understand Jiraiya's fascination with the child; the offspring of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina was bound to be unique and powerful, with ancient genes of abundant chakra and a brilliant mind being her parents' legacy.

Alternatively, Orochimaru didn't know what exactly it was Eri saw in him. But he knew it wasn't a monster (like the rest of Konoha's population). In fact, it felt like something akin to… family.

Orochimaru gripped the table next to him at the thought. He hadn't had a family in decades. It was now a foreign idea. When they'd been alive, his parents shared similar features to his own, resembling those of a snake and stemming from a clan long extinct. They never looked at him as though he were an abomination of nature; they accepted him, his curiosity, his desire for control. And when he'd had his parents, the pointing and staring hadn't mattered. But now they were dead, while the disgust of others had remained.

A glance at the clock reminded him that it was time for lunch, and Orochimaru sighed. He knew from his previous inspection that the child hadn't packed any nutritious food. No, rationally speaking, the child was too small to physically pack her own things; _Uzumaki_ hadn't prepared any proper food for Eri. Orochimaru scowled. And to think the child actually believed her parents had any idea about what they were doing while rearing her this way.

He traipsed over to the couch, and watched the child's steady breathing. He knew children needed to be fed at strict time intervals (and he'd never admit he knew this based on the book he'd bought on raising children—much to the horror of the store owner. He'd simply wanted to understand how the child could be raised, how factors would influence her). Since Orochimaru usually didn't bother to eat unless he really needed to, he had no food in his office next door. He'd have to take Eri out to an outside restaurant to feed her. (He ignored the small part of him that suspected Uzumaki had been aiming for this exact thing; both the child and her mother had a penchant to force him to socialize, it seemed). Orochimaru reached down and dismissed Hanako, ignoring the baby snake's betrayed look.

"Child, wake up," he commanded.

Eri whined, her pitch high and quivering before fading away. When Orochimaru shook her again, she simply rolled over to her other side, away from the Sannin's hands. Sighing, Orochimaru resigned himself to his own fate, and picked her up into a gentle embrace.

"What do you want to eat?" he asked as he left his office, being sure to close and lock his door, and headed down the stairs.

"Ramen," she grumbled into his hair, which she had managed to clutch onto in the short period of time.

"Something _healthy_ ," he scolded, turning around the corner and walking down the halls. He ignored the shocked and awed stares, some of which were in horror and others in fascination.

"Ramen with veggies," she mumbled, and shifted to a more comfortable position.

"If we get anything else, will you not eat it?" Orochimaru asked.

"Yah," Eri mumbled into his hair (for the life of him, Orochimaru could not understand her—and her mother's—fascination with his hair).

"Fine," Orochimaru sighed, leaving through the hospital exit and heading for Ramen Ichiraku, where (in his opinion) Kushina had dragged him far too many times after their missions together.

"Thanks," Eri added after a significant amount of time, apparently remembering her manners.

"You're welcome," Orochimaru replied.

Once they'd reached the ramen stand, the red-headed child seemed to _magically_ wake up, struggling in his grip as she stretched her arms and legs. After a few blinks, she was wide awake and aware, grinning in pure anticipation. When Orochimaru sat down with Eri on his lap, he realized what she was so excited about and gave her an unimpressed stare.

"I'm assuming your parents don't let you eat ramen often," his question sounded more like a statement than an actual question.

"Yah," Eri giggled, and attempted to hide herself in the cluster of Orochimaru's black hair. "They say it's too salty."

"And rightfully so," Orochimaru growled, before turning to (the some-what shell-shocked looking) owner and ordering one miso ramen and one veggie ramen. "Your mother will not be happy with both you and me."

Eri shrugged. "It was yo'h idea."

"Your," Orochimaru corrected, and narrowed his eyes. "Don't try to slither out of this problem by yourself."

"Hehe. OK." (Why was she different? Why didn't she fear him?)

Before Orochimaru could scold the child any further, a familiar voice called, "...Orochimaru?"

After sending Eri a 'I am not done getting upset at you' look, the Snake Sannin twisted around on his seat to meet Jiraiya face-to-face. He gave his (ex?) teammate a nod. "Jiraiya."

His teammate's face scrunched into a confused expression. "You're… at Ichiraku… Ichiraku, a ramen stand." When Orochimaru gave him the usual 'oh, no, _really?_ ' look, Jiraiya added with the same stupid look,"I… thought you were—" his eyes flickered to the owner, whose ears seemed to perk up despite the busy chopping and cooking, "— interested in eating a different genre of food."

Orochimaru cocked an eyebrow, and twisted around, exposing Eri to Jiraiya. (His grip around her clenched, because this was a rather vulnerable position he was putting her in). "Hime here didn't want to eat anything but ramen," he drawled, watching as Jiraiya's scrunched eyebrows pushed up further into the man's forehead.

Eri shot him a dirty look. "You suggest first!"

"But you insisted on eating this dish," Orochimaru shook his head, as though he were in a helpless situation. "I had no choice but to feed you this; you said you wouldn't eat anything else." Before Eri could protest, Orochimaru turned to Jiraiya, and jerked his head to the seat beside him. "Care to join us?"

"I—" Jiraiya paused, and his shoulders shook as he laughed. "Sure, I guess. I don't see why not." The big man walked over to the duo, and clambered onto the seat beside Orochimaru, who twirled back to face the booth.

As Jiraiya ordered his own meal, Eri looked from Jiraiya to Orochimaru, and Orochimaru could see her deciding whether she should move onto Jiraiya's lap to play with white hair. She remained on his lap.

"Hi Jiraiya." She frowned. "Jiraiya… Jicchin? Ji-chan?" She seemed to finally arrive at a revolutionary conclusion, and pointed at the man with boundless energy. "Kaeru-ji!"

"Kaeru-ji?" the two Sannin echoed, and Eri nodded, her head shaking up and down.

"Kaeru and Jiraiya!" she smiled.

Orochimaru tried to control himself, really, he did. But… _Frog_ -ji was just too hilarious of a nickname. The laughter escaped his lips before he could stop himself, his shoulders shaking with mirth. He felt tears collect in the corner of his eye, even; he had to clutch his stomach to control his shaking. Eri's laughter that joined his sounded like music to his ears.

When he finally stopped laughing, he absorbed the full extent of Jiraiya's embarrassment. As always, the tips of the idiot's ears turned red. And because Orochimaru was so busy trying to collect himself (he never laughed like that in public—he hadn't laughed like that in a while), he couldn't stop Jiraiya from exclaiming, "at least it's better than Orocchin!"

The two bowls of ramen that appeared before the Snake Sannin shook slightly before being set down on the booth. Orochimaru shot the snorting owner a hard look, and could feel the incredulous stares of the people around him.

But there was no need for Orochimaru to defend his pride, as Eri placed her hands on her hips. "Oi," She narrowed her eyes. "I call you Kaeru-ji, not Ero-Sannin. Be…" ignoring the sputtering Jiraiya, she turned to Orochimaru with a frown. "Ehh, how do you say? Thanks? Thanking?"

"Thankful," he supplied.

She whipped back to Jiraiya. "Yah. Be _thankful_."

Hiding his smile, Orochimaru forced Eri to sit down properly, and handed her chopsticks. "Alright, that's enough. Eat your food, hime."

"Orochimaru, what kind of words are you teaching this kid?" Jiraiya asked in a shrill voice.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "I did not teach her such ill-mannered vocabulary."

"Then, shouldn't you, ya know, scold her for using 'bad words'?" Jiraiya inquired, a hint of hope in his voice.

Orochimaru veiled his surprise at Jiraiya's words. (Did people see Orochimaru like that? Like someone who was authorized to take reign of Eri's education enough to scold her for her mistakes? Because despite his prior declaration, he wasn't sure if his role as her sensei would be accepted or not). Instead, he replied, "She wasn't wrong, so I see no need to correct her."

As Orochimaru reached for his own set of chopsticks, he saw Eri's strange look as she bit her lower lip. "What is it?" He prodded.

"I… no can use," Eri waved her hand around the chopsticks.

Orochimaru cursed to himself when he realized she wouldn't physically be able to use chopsticks, much less hold up a spoon. He glanced warily at the bowl of ramen before the two, ignoring the wild slurping noises coming from his right.

"Then I'll just have to feed you," he declared, then hesitantly added, "Do not be too concerned. I'm well acquainted with the theory of hand-feeding children." (He knew reading wasn't the same as actual practice; apparently Eri recognized that too, as she gave him an 'uh huh, _sure_ ' look.)

"Heh, look, the brat's copying your expressions," Jiraiya pointed out.

"Finish the food in your mouth before you speak, you barbarian," Orochimaru snapped. He glanced at the steam rising up from both the bowls before him. "Let's wait until the ramen has cooled down."

"OK," Eri conceded, leaning back against him. "Wake me later."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, about to question whether she really was going to sleep for such a short period. But he missed his chance as she slipped into unconsciousness almost as soon as her head touched his chest. Rolling his eyes, Orochimaru shifted his arms so she would be more comfortable, and fixed their position so she wouldn't fall off his lap.

"So," Jiraiya spoke slowly, his eyes fixed on his teammate. "What's up with you and the kid?"

"You've been here for ten minutes, and you ask me _now_?" Orochimaru snorted. "Uzumaki left the child in my care, because she had 'things' to do alone."

Jiraiya nodded. "Aha. She's probably restocking her weapons and armor, since she's leaving tomorrow." His eyes slid down to the child sleeping in Orochimaru's lap. "Hime here is apparently very worried about her parents' safety, and is against her parents participating in the war."

"I'm guessing she will stay with Mikoto while the two are gone, then?" Orochimaru asked.

Jiraiya replied, "Nn. I think it's a good idea, personally. She'll be as safe as the Uchiha heir in that compound—which is guarded pretty damn well, I have to say—and not very lonely." Jiraiya paused, his chopsticks hanging in the air, and peered at Orochimaru. "Why? You wanna look after her instead?"

Orochimaru remained expressionless (because that was an absolutely ridiculous notion). "Nonsense. I am too busy to care for the child every day. She'd end up missing a meal or two, and would be bored to death. She would most definitely be safer and entertained within the Uchiha compound."

Jiraiya shrugged, returning to his ramen. "All right. I'll take your word for it."

"And what are you doing in Konoha?" Orochimaru inquired. "I'd heard you'd been relatively busy with your research beyond Konoha's walls."

Having been teammates for such a long period of time, Jiraiya caught onto what Orochimaru was insinuating immediately. "Ah," the white-haired man continued to eat his ramen at the same rate. "Yes. I've found some interesting material in this amazing hot spring for my next book, which is gonna be based in Konoha. The place was full of busty, eager women—a lot of them were super ferocious too. Any man would get enamored by them."

In other words: _There were kunoichi who were attempting to infiltrate Konoha by seducing Konoha shinobi._

Orochimaru ignored the incredulous looks of the people around them, and cocked an eye at Jiraiya. "I see. Were you crazy enough to bring them to your home afterwards?"

_Were they successful?_

"I only brought one or two of them to sightsee Konoha. I'd introduce them to you, but unfortunately, they're not your usual type," Jiraiya flashed his teammate a grin. "The hot springs was in this beautiful place surrounded by a bunch of boulders. I had a hard time sneaking in to watch them. I don't think I can peek on them again."

_Some of the spies were successfully caught. The kunoichi were from Iwagakure, and were not related to the mutated child soldiers. Jiraiya's spy within Iwagakure was compromised._

"Strict security has never been a problem with you and your disgusting hobby before," Orochimaru cocked an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, things happened. It's a good thing the two girls liked me a lot; the rest didn't even know I was there," Jiraiya reassured.

_The two girls were currently in T &I, and were not likely to be released. Konoha's involvement with the spy in Iwagakure was unknown._

"Knowing your stubbornness, I'm willing to bet you already have a plethora of other hot springs chosen to spy on next," Orochimaru accused.

Jiraiya laid down his chopsticks calmly, having finished his ramen. "Actually, I might have to lay off the hot springs. There's something more urgent like, say, the plot of my story." The Sannin glanced at something only he could see in the sky, before flashing Orochimaru a grin. "Looks like sensei has missed me in the time I was gone. I need to head out now."

 _There's more to the kunoichi spies than what is on the surface_. _Sarutobi-sensei doesn't know of it yet._

"Then I'll be sure to join you in sensei's office later. Send me a hawk," Orochimaru tilted his head in acknowledgement as Jiraiya dropped several coins of ryo on the booth.

"Will do." With that, Jiraiya disappeared within the crowd.

Orochimaru laid a hand on Eri's arms to wake her. Almost instantly, the child awoke. The ease with which she awoke and fell asleep would have been suspicious had Orochimaru not witnessed her do it so naturally in the numerous times he'd been with her. (How did it work? He knew children had to get an average of 14 hours a day, so it was not strange that she would sleep so frequently. But how was she capable of easing into and out of sleep so easily?)

The child looked around the restaurant, her eyes wide. "Kaeru-ji?"

"He left due to some urgent business," Orochimaru explained, then reached for the pair of chopsticks and spoon.

He broke the noodles into small pieces to place on a spoon, and lowered the spoon to Eri's mouth level. She opened her small mouth, and clamped down on the spoon, chewing on the noodles. She glanced at Orochimaru.

"What is it, child?" He prodded.

"No eat?" She quirked her eyebrow.

Orochimaru's lips tightened into a thin line as he glanced at his own bowl of ramen. "I dislike cold food."

Eri glanced down at her lap, and chewed her food. "Oh." She continued to fidget, and glance from him to the bowl (it appeared she hadn't adopted Uzumaki's verbal tic, but had created her own physical one; her left eye continued to twitch every time she was nervous). With a sigh, he raised his hand to signal for the owner.

"Teuchi-san," he called. "I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience, but would you be so kind as to fill my bowl with warm broth?"

Eri beamed, and opened her mouth eagerly. As if this wasn't his first time feeding the child, Orochimaru swiftly dropped the prepared the chopped noodles into the child's mouth. Once Orochimaru received his own warm bowl, he also began to eat. Surprisingly, the ramen was better than when he'd last had it.

That was how they spent their time at noon, eating and feeding in a calm atmosphere, despite the lack of conversation.

* * *

"Eri," Kushina sang as she peeked into the room. "I'm here."

A sharp hiss stopped her from continuing her (lovely) song. So instead, she tip toed inside the room, and closed the door behind her. A smile blossomed on her face once she saw her baby sleeping soundly on the Sannin's couch, with a corn snake strewn across her legs. Orochimaru was sitting behind his desk, pages of paper scattered on his desk.

He cocked his eyebrow. "You've arrived earlier than expected."

She strode across the room, avoiding the pieces of paper on the floor, and stood before him. "There weren't as many people at the market as I expected," she explained, placing a paper bag on his desk.

He glanced at the bag, then back at her. "This is?"

"Bread and staple food." She raised her eyebrow. "You're not gonna be of much help to Konoha if you don't eat, 'ttebane."

"Blunt as always, I see."

Kushina smiled back at the man, and turned to her daughter.

Orochimaru stood from behind his desk to walk over to his couch. "Your daughter can sleep for more than fifteen hours; her current siesta shouldn't be much of a surprise to you. She's only a year and a couple months old, after all. Were she to sleep any less, she'd stunt her growth." He snorted. "Her sleeping will be imperative, seeing as she'll want to be taller than her mother."

"My height is _average_ in Konoha, 'ttebane!" Kushina narrowed her eyes, only whispering because her daughter was still sleeping.

"Of course, of course," Orochimaru waved his hand nonchalantly, and leaned down to pick Eri up. "Eri, your kaa-chan is here."

Eri stirred, rubbing her eyes. Kushina reined back from cooing at her irresistibly adorable daughter, because she knew how pampered kids would turn out: ie, her ex-classmates from the Academy.

"Don't rub your eyes," Orochimaru scolded. "That'll ruin your vision."

Kushina watched as Eri obediently dropped her arms and snuggled against the Snake Sannin. Kushina would be the first to admit her daughter had a bit of a rebellious streak, so watching her be compliant was quite the treat.

"Come here to 'kaa-chan," she held her arms out before her. Eri slid into Kushina's embrace.

"Thank you," Kushina grinned as she accepted the pack from Orochimaru. "I hope Eri wasn't a big burden to you today. Because if that's the case, I can make sure to leave her with someone else next time."

"It was fine," Orochimaru crossed his arms. "I think it'd be best if she only brought one book the next time she visits; she only got half way through a single book, after all. Also, I had a female attendant change her diapers midway. The next time she visits, I expect Eri to be properly trained in toilet etiquette."

"Ahh," Kushina smiled with faux ignorance. "I completely forgot about that. I'll be sure to train her soon."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "Of course you 'forgot'."

"Kaa-chan, dun' be mean," Eri grumbled, interrupting Kushina from speaking. "And I visit when I want."

"Of course you will," Kushina patted Eri's back. "Oh, Orochimaru-san, what are you doing this afternoon?"

Orochimaru glanced out the window, before sliding his eyes back to the mother-daughter duo. "Apparently, nothing. What is it you need from me this time?"

"Minato and I are having some people over before we leave for our mission," Kushina beamed. "We'd love to have you join us."

Orochimaru opened his mouth (obviously to retort "I do not have time to resort to your silly little 'partying'" or "I have more important things to do, like save Konoha" or "Do you Namikaze couple have nothing better to do than party all the time?"), so Kushina cleared her throat and added, "Jiraiya-san is also coming too, 'ttebane. He wanted to share something along the lines of 'hot spring babes' and 'rock monsters.'" She paused, then frowned. "Was that too obvious?" Espionage was never her forte.

"No, not until you uttered that last sentence," Orochimaru rolled his eyes, and sighed. "All right, I'll be there. What time do I have to be there by?"

"Seven in the evening," Kushina slid her arms into the straps of Eri's bag, and walked to the door. "Eri, say bye-bye to Orochimaru-san."

"Bye, Orocchin," Eri yawned.

"You mean, 'See you later'," the Sannin corrected.

"Yah, see you later," Eri mumbled.

Kushina smiled again, and waved goodbye as she left the office, closing the door behind her. She walked down the hallway, down the stairs, and past the rows of doors (she ignored the sharp stares from the ones that recognized her, some respectful and some fearful.) She was glad Eri was asleep; her daughter was somehow hypersensitive to others' emotions, and Kushina always felt guilty it was because of her.

When Kushina finally left the hospital, and headed towards her house, she caught a familiar whiff of sea water. She frowned, whipping around to look for the source of the smell, but was disappointed to find none (nothing but the frightened expressions of the people, who'd been startled by her sharp movements, scared of the potential threat that she was). She gripped Eri tighter.

She would never forget the smell of Uzushiogakure, her home, her mother's home, _Mito-sama's home_. It was a beautiful place, surrounded by sparkling, pale blue water. Fish exotic to Konoha swam along its borders; the baby blue sky encompassed the entire island. A place that was filled with laughter, with smiles and happiness.

Kushina continued her stride home. There were many things she did for her daughter, many things she would do. She would tear down villages, and kill a thousand men to keep Eri safe. But the one thing that Kushina wanted to do—to show Eri the livelihood of Uzushiogakure and its people, to let her hear the laughter of the mischievous children with similar red-hair, to introduce her to the sparkling sea water of the surrounding ocean, and to chase her through the tall, grand buildings of Uzushio—was impossible. Because even as a fuuinjutsu master, with both the Uzumaki and the Kyuubi's chakra, Kushina could not change or alter history. Because Uzushio was in ruins, its people scattered throughout the world, and its sea, now empty of fish, still had to recover from having been tainted with shinobi blood. Because Uzushio was no more, its beauty non-existent without its people.

She felt her lips tense into a stiff line, and tried to ignore the loneliness that bloomed in the pits of her stomach. She loved Konoha (even if it did not love or accept her), because she loved the people of Konoha. She loved Minato, and Eri, and her friends and her kouhai. She loved coming back from missions to a _home_.

But it was different from Uzushiogakure. That was where she'd been born, where she'd first learned about chakra, where her father had shown her the wonder of fuuinjutsu and her teacher had taught her how to create her own seals; it was where she'd made her first friends, where her aunts and uncles and cousins had once lived. It was a place that was distant in her memories, because she'd left at such an early age; but at the same time, the few images she held were vivid, because Uzushio's mystical and entrancing aura left great impressions on both its natives and visitors.

The full understanding and complete mastery of advanced fuuinjutsu.


	8. Chapter 8

Finally, here is what has been long awaited (hopefully by you lot): Chapter 8!

Huge thank yous to winteralley, who noticed a shit ton of mistakes in this chapter and helped weed them out.

If you see anything odd, please message me or leave a review. If not, I hope you enjoy the chapter.

* * *

When Eri heard the bustling noises around her, she knew without much prompting that her parents had hosted another gathering. She opened one eye, recognized her room, and finally pried open the other. The room was dark, but a sliver of light reflected on the wall through the slight opening of the door. In the thin ray of light, Eri watched drifting green particles. Dormant most of the time, they floated aimlessly in the space before and around her. But they hummed with the intensity of something fierce and powerful; that was the only reason Eri didn't tinker with them, at least until she could understand them better.

She toddled over to the door, and pushed it open. The sudden light of the hallway blinded her and she flinched, shielding her eyes from the assault. But she still trudged on forward, using her hands to cover her eyes. Finally, she reached the stairs. To descend down the set, she had to repeat the process from before: land on her stomach, flail her feet around until they hit the surface of the step immediately below, and repeat. She was only just getting used to walking with the ability to balance her weight; she wasn't confident enough to walk down stairs.

As soon as she reached the bottom stair, she waddled over to the living room, from where most of the voices could be heard.

"...and Kushina will head towards Sunagakure. In the meantime, Inoichi—" the voice abruptly stopped.

Eri stared back at the group of adults who'd turned to her. As experienced shinobi, they'd probably known she would approach them, so she felt no need to explain herself. Instead, she trudged over to Orochimaru, who was closest, and raised her arms. The Snake Sannin rolled his eyes as he lifted her into an embrace.

"Carry on," he ordered.

Shikaku's eyes swept over Eri. "As I was saying, Kushina will head towards Sunagakure to join Daichi's team in the assault. Inoichi, Choza, and I will head towards the border of the Land of Earth, to check out the 14th post. Joining us will be Hitoshi and Ichiro's team. Minato will check up on the 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th post with his Hiraishin before joining us at the 14th post. Once he joins the team, we will push forward into Kusagakure. Our goal will be to restrain the advancement of the Iwa nin stationed within Kusagakure, and to gather— not kill— the mutated child soldiers." His eyes glazed over as he continued to point at the map.

"Kushina will continue to push into Sunagakure. Since Sasori of the Sand left Sunagakure, their general manpower has decreased significantly. According to the previous behavior patterns of Suna's Kazekage, he will also be out on the field; he can't afford to stay holed up in his office anymore, not after that bomb some of the Suna shinobi set off near Konoha's walls." Shikaku shot Kushina an annoyed glare. "But you must be careful to not underestimate their Kazekage; you are entering his territory, which is, obviously, entirely encompassed by sand. All tables are turned against you. The only reason we're sending you out there is because of your advanced fuuinjutsu ability and your chakra chains, along with that ridiculous chakra reserve of yours."

The tips of Kushina's lips curled. "I get it, 'ttebane. I'll be careful."

"The goal of your mission is to push back the Suna forces that are stationed along the borders between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire; but the psychological impact we leave behind is more important. Suna is not completely immersed in this war. It has only occasionally attacked us from behind the forces of the other villages, meaning the Kazekage is unsure whether to continue the siege or not. It's understandable, considering their forces are tiny compared to that of ours, and all trade bringing their necessary resources— like food, oil, and weapons—has been halted because of the war. It would be suicidal for them to commit an all out attack against us. That's why we need to leave behind a strong impression—"

"OK, stop beating around the bush. You know I'm gonna sack 'em all," Kushina rolled her eyes.

Shikaku sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course you will. Now, you just need to push back the forces into the border of Sunagakure. Daichi's team will do the rest of intelligence gathering."

The seven shinobi in the room were stiff and tense. Despite Shikaku's attempt to convey a sense of lackadaisical attitude towards this meeting, it was obvious that everyone was nervous.

Eri frowned. Wasn't the Hokage supposed to give out missions and have them debrief? She caught Shikaku's gaze from across the room, and he gave her a tired, lopsided smile. "Hokage-sama is bombarded with enough work as he is. He has all these demands from the Daimyo, from the small council, has to order the repairment of breached walls-things that require his immediate attention." Shikaku yawned. "It's troublesome, but as the jounin commander, this is the least I can do."

Jiraiya stretched his arms, relieving the tension from his body. "It's a good thing those two spies were caught immediately. I'm glad they had some information that was of use."

"I wonder what they were thinking, attempting to seduce Konoha's grand spymaster," Choza murmured aloud. "It seems really idiotic."

"Well, Iwa nin aren't known for being the smartest of the bunch," Inoichi added.

"Which is why their medical advancement is such a mystery," Orochimaru interjected, his eyebrows bunching into a frown. "It's ridiculous. They shouldn't be this far ahead in cell manipulation. For—"

"Oi, oi, Orocchin. Before you get into all that medical mumbo jumbo talk, translate it into human speak, will you?" Jiraiya interrupted.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. "It is not my fault you have the brain of a turd. But since you so eagerly beg, I shall do so." He turned towards the group. "The change in the children's body, as I have previously reported, is abnormal. It not only alters the physical appearance of the children, but also the internal drive. It apparently isn't enough that they are able to harden their skin and grow incredibly dense and hard material from their body; they also become aggressive, and cannot be excited nor depressed by external stimuli. Seeing as Iwa shinobi are incapable of healing the simplest injuries for their soldiers, I deem it impossible that they were capable of manipulating the children's cell manipulation."

"So you believe there's something that they derived this mutation off of?" Inoichi asked.

"Yes. But their method is crude," Orochimaru spat. "No proper procedure at all. I'm willing to bet they simply took blood samples from the original and injected them into the children." The Sannin shook his head. "But I only have two test subjects. I can't conclude much from the two, seeing as one is half-dead from being cut up in a fight, and the other is only in a _slightly_ better condition."

"Hokage-sama wishes for us to capture more of the children shinobi. I believe you'll be receiving new… _test subjects_ soon." Try as he might, Choza seemed to have a hard time saying that without much disgust, Eri noted.

"A good decision," Inoichi added quickly to remedy for his teammate's unintentional insult. "The children were obviously used as experiments. We need to find a way to counteract against this genetic aspect of them before Iwa finds a way for their adult jounin to adopt it. The fights will become more drawn out and complicated if the adult soldiers were to gain this ability."

"Then we should all head back home, and get a good night's sleep before we think more about it," Jiraiya drawled, scratching the back of his head.

The other shinobi seemed to agree with the Sannin, as they started to end their meeting with the usual "then we'll meet again tomorrow morning at the gate" nonsense. The Ino-Shika-Cho team was the first to leave, and the Sannin the last ones, lingering behind for some extra "Kushina plz follow the rules" and "Minato, we're counting on you" motivational talk.

"Why here?" Eri asked aloud, figuring it was now appropriate for a child to speak.

Jiraiya cocked his eyebrow. "Shikaku already answered—"

"No, _here_ ," Eri emphasized.

"Good question, Eri," Orochimaru nodded, probably to spite Jiraiya than out of genuine appraisal. "Knowing how sensitive the information shared today is, it certainly would've been better for us to meet in one of the conference rooms within the Administration building. But your parents have the house wrapped up in so many privacy seals— much more than any of the other rooms, really— that it was of most prominent decision was to stay within these walls."

"Ah," Eri mumbled in understanding. Her parents tended to be a bit more paranoid than the typical shinobi.

Jiraiya rested his hands on his hips. "Well! That's that. Your parents are paranoid freaks, almost as much as they are awesome shinobi."

"We are not paranoid, sensei," Minato smiled (in his innocent smile that made Eri shudder). "Simply cautious."

Jiraiya snorted, but Orochimaru raised his hand before the Toad Sannin could say anything. "Cautiousness is a trait that is of great importance to shinobi." He passed Eri onto Kushina. "I hope you two— especially you, Uzumaki— will keep that in mind during your missions. There are too many unknown factors in this war, and it's not boding well for Konoha." He grimaced. "I have more to experiment with, and more to discover. Jiraiya, you also have a mountain load of work to do. We'll take our leave now. Time is of essence."

With that, Orochimaru headed for the door, dragging along his teammate with him.

"But— Minato, be careful! You too, Kushina!" The man yelped as Orochimaru closed the door behind them.

The house was eerily silent without the bustling noise of shuffled paper, or the boisterous laughter of the other men. Kushina slumped down on the couch with Eri, who landed on her mother's lap with an _oomph_. Her father soon followed, settling in beside his wife and daughter. They stayed that way, finally in the comfort of one another's presence and finding no need for any superficial soothing words.

Eri held her mother and father close. She inhaled their smell, and tried to imprint it into her memory. When her father last left for a month, it felt like a year. And from Shikaku's presentation, it was obvious her parents' missions would last far longer than that. How long would she be alone? How long would she stare at the same moon at this time of night, wondering if they were safe?

Would they even be safe?

Her parents' auras did nothing to comfort her. They were nervous too— about themselves, and about each other. They swirled, a bundle of restless nerves, appeased by nothing. They knew Konoha was not in any advantage in this war, and how dangerous their roles were.

Often, their auras would flicker in a way that resembled the enthusiastic, passionate bursts of a campfire. They would flicker wildly in arbitrary directions, the inner, core of their chakra feeding them with vibrant energy. They vibrated with an intensity not unlike the green aura around herself, and quivered whenever her parents spoke of Konoha. Her parents were proud to be shinobi from Konoha, to fight for its beliefs and its people. As worried as they were, the two did not regret risking their lives for the village.

In an interesting way, Eri supposed, it was like their will of fire. Something that justified their sacrifices for Konoha, something that eased their fear and nerves. It was entrancing, but fearful simultaneously.

That night, the three slept together on one bed. It was the strange way that they always used to comfort themselves. Her parents liked to pretend they were strong, physically and mentally, and sometimes, they were so good at acting that Eri forgot they were 20 years old (younger than when she'd died. A strange thought). Twenty year olds were not supposed to wonder if they'd be able to kill enough opposing soldiers to survive and see their daughter.

Eri clenched her fists at the thought, ignoring the sleep that slowly crept up on her. Her parents would not die. They could not. She knew it; the anime dictated that they live so Naruto could be born. But then again, she was not mentioned in the anime. She did not know how her existence had influenced the anime.

The pits of her stomach clenched, and Eri's breath hitched into an irregular pattern. Why was she born into the Narutoverse? Why was she born under this couple? Why couldn't she have just been born an orphan so her parents could survive the war? (It was Eri's fault if either of them died.)

Her mother rolled onto her other side to face Eri, interrupting her thought process. She crawled deeper into her mother's embrace, appreciating the smell of citrus. Then she caught a whiff of seawater that she hadn't noticed before, an imprint of a place Eri was not familiar with.

There was much about her parents that Eri didn't know about, now that she thought about it, and she began to regret never having asked them about their past. She didn't know if she had any grandparents, aunts, or uncles. She didn't know about her family's history or background. She figured her parents would tell her in time, and thought that their silence was just a clear sign that she not ask them until they were ready to teach her.

But if her parents did die, and Eri was left alone in this world, she would have no knowledge about them left with her. She would only know what had been shown in the anime, general knowledge about them that any respectable shinobi could gather in a few days.

Could she really say she knew her parents? Or was she just an intruder in the two's lives, someone masquerading as their daughter?

Eri bit back the sob that tried to climb up her throat. She didn't deserve to have such loving parents. She took them for granted, and wasn't thankful enough for them. She was selfish, and so absorbed in her own life that she neglected to familiarize herself with her parents'. Yes, she'd wanted to save her parents even before that night, but somehow, her desire and efforts had been very superficial. Read books? Talk intelligently? How was that supposed to save the two from a mad, ancient Uchiha, who had the power to kill her using just his pinky (or even less)?

She promised to herself she would make everything right, as soon as they came back home. She would learn more about them and their past. And she would shower them with love and appreciation. So for now, she allowed herself to drown in the deep sea of unconsciousness.

* * *

_The earth rumbles as the sky splits open with a loud, ominous screech. She flinches, but follows her group formation, tramping on, forward, forward, deeper into the enemy's lair. The air is pungent with the smell of death, dust filtering the scene around her. Harsh wind blows and strikes the team, only stagnated by the surrounding buildings of dirt. Thankfully, the ground is hard and dry, but with the clouds gathering menacingly, she know they will have to trudge through mud soon._

_Hut, two, hut, three. Onwards, men! Chant within your mind the mantra. Pain is good. Pain is necessary. Pain is a friend. Pain is a reminder that you are alive._

_Two fingers up, elbows bent. Stop. Like a well-oiled machine, the entire team freezes, tense and ready. Her finger slides down to her gun's trigger, her shoulders flexed. She can kill, she is ready, shit, bring them all on._

_The fingers goes down, and her captain's jerk is all the team needed to start clambering on again. Their big, thick boots against the hard ground, steady but strangely silent. She is always silent, the most silent out of all of them._

_The ambush takes them by surprise. She groans, oh hell, oh hell._

_This is hell._

_The child's eye is wide with fear, his face caked in dirt and blood not unlike hers. He wears no armor, he is bare, open, open and vulnerable, ready to be killed. Another prey, another pawn. He dies as soon as he enters the team's field of vision. He is only twelve, she thinks, only twelve. Her little sister is twelve. Or is she eight? Why can't she remember?_

_There is a scream that rings out loudly, shaking the walls around everyone. A bomb? A bomb, a bomb, oh shit, get down, get down! Cover, get to cover. Get your fucking ass out of there, Dresden!_

_She jumps down onto the ground, covering her head. How ironical it is that she lands right before the boy, her eyes locked onto his. As if she is belittling him for being so inexperienced, for dying while she lives. She is no choice, she moans. Here, next to the boy, is the best place for cover, look, over there, the ceiling has collapsed and is dead dead._

_The voice calls out for her, so she clambers onto her feet, and joins her team again. It is missing one member, but nobody says anything because they've noticed the new dog tag, dangling from their captain's fist. They focus only on their goal, because they haven't killed their target yet. One more step, one more move. Let's go, let's go._

_Onwards, men._

She woke quietly, a blistering headache pounding at her skull. She noticed the damp sheets around her, but made no move to escape from their grip. She waited for the pain in her head to disappear, and only then noticed how hard she was clenching her teeth. She eased her stiffness in her jaw, and the pain disappeared with it.

She had a bad dream. A terrifying dream. But she couldn't remember what it was about for the life of her. In the background, she could hear faint _tut-tuts_. It was a familiar sound, but she would hesitate to call it comforting.

"Eri?" A familiar voice called out. The man seemed to approach the bed, hesitant.

She continued to breathe in, then out. Eri. Namikaze Eri. Yes, that was her. She was Namikaze Eri.

"Minato," a voice called from far away. "It's getting kind of late. You should wake her up, 'ttebane."

Namikaze Minato was her father.

"She's awake, Kushina," Minato said back. "I'll be downstairs in a minute."

Uzumaki Kushina was her mother.

"Eri," Minato's voice was closer now, and more gentle. "It was just a dream."

Yes. Yes, she was Namikaze Eri, daughter of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. She was safe. She was in her parent's room. She was in the Namikaze household, in Konoha. And her parents were going off to war.

Eri's eyes snapped open at the thought, and she did not flinch from the unforgiving light that entered the room. The yellow ceiling had a strange pattern, she now noticed. Perhaps she would paint over it later, once she grew taller and her parents returned from the war.

A cold hand slowly rested against Eri's forehead, and Eri glanced at Minato. He gave her a blinding smile. "I'm here. You're safe. Don't worry."

"But you're leaving," Eri wanted to say. Instead, she held out her arms, allowing her father to pull her into a soft embrace. She gripped onto him, her small, pink fingers turning pale. Then, she let go.

Thirty minutes later, the Namikaze-Uzumaki family stood by the walls of Konoha. Amongst the crowd were Inoichi, Shikaku, and Choza and their wives; Mikoto; Jiraiya; and Minato's team. Orochimaru had not come.

It was strange to see her mother and the other shinobi in their fighting gear. Her mother's usually loose flaming red hair was tied back into a tight ponytail, with her forehead covered by her hitaite. She wore the standard Konoha jounin jacket, along with baggy black pants tightened with bandages. Eri found her mother beautiful, in a fearsome sort of way.

Eri was used to seeing her father in his blue (ugly, in her opinion) sweater and jounin jacket. He was the one who was most frequently off on missions, after all.

Eri had been surprised to hear her father's team was not following him on his mission. But in a way, it made sense, she supposed. They were just barely acquainted with her father's _Hiraishin_ ; it would be illogical to take them on a mission in which the technique was imperative. They would be a burden in this tag mission (tag mission: dropping in and out of bases quickly, as though one were playing a game of tag; she didn't remember how she knew that fact). Apparently, Minato's team was being sent out on less dangerous missions, focusing mainly on helping civilians whose homes had been destroyed in Fire Country, and replenishing the supplies of Konoha shinobi teams.

It was unusual for a Konoha team to be left without their sensei for long, and Eri hoped that sentiment was applicable even during war time. That way, her father would be home faster.

"I suppose we should head off now," Minato said with that fake smile of his. Eri watched him without saying anything.

Before her mother could pass her off to Mikoto, Eri pushed against Kushina's grips. Eri dropped onto her feet, and stood on her own, staring at her parents who watched with a great amount of affection.

"I love you," Eri said. "Be safe."

"I love you too, Eri," Minato bent down to kiss Eri on the forehead, followed by Kushina. "We'll be safe."

"Listen to Mikoto, okay?" Kushina smiled.

"Of course," Eri replied.

There were other pleasantries that were exchanged. But Eri paid them no heed, focusing solely on her parents. Her eyes outlined their physiques, the shape of their eyes, noses, and mouths. She memorized the sound of their laughter, and burned it into her memory. She didn't want them to go. But they would leave.

When her father took a step back towards the gate, Eri felt terror graze in her stomach. She wanted to ask them to not go, to stay in Konoha. Let other shinobi fight for them. Let others die for them. But she knew that would only make it harder on her parents, who were suffering enough already. So instead, Eri smiled.

"Bye bye, kaa-chan, tou-chan," she said as the group of shinobi finally passed through the gate. "Come home soon."

Five minutes after the group had left her field of vision, Eri still stood at the same spot as before. She was thankful that Mikoto allowed her to stay in silence, not inquiring about Eri's reasons.

When Eri heard the sound of life rising around her, she took in a deep breath, and released it. Then, she turned to Mikoto, who gave her a soft smile and took her hand, guiding them towards the Uchiha compound.

Eri was quiet the entire walk to Mikoto's household. She ignored the almost insulting way the sun began to climb up the sky. She blocked out all of the surrounding chatter of the ignorant children who ran along the block, whose parents did not have to go out to fight and protect this village. She ignored the curious stares of the Uchihas as she pressed on through the Uchiha compound.

It was only when she found a pair of two black eyes looking at her that she realized she was finally within the Uchiha household. In fact, she was in Itachi and her usual play room.

Eri stared back at Itachi, waiting for him to begin another's usual parade of "It's going to be OK" and "They're strong shinobi". (But those people didn't get it, not really; what the hell did it matter that her parents were strong shinobi? There were always, _always_ situations that strength alone could not help soldiers through).

Itachi said none of those things. Instead, he opened up his arms, embracing Eri, and murmured into her ears. " **It's OK to cry**."

Eri felt herself laugh hoarsely at the relief the child's words brought. But her tears came first, spilling from her eyes down onto Itachi's shoulder. She heard a sick moan emitting from her throat, a tortured cry of a deranged animal, and she clenched onto Itachi's shirt.

"It's OK," she heard a faint voice, and a gentle pair of hands on her back. "I'm here with you. **We're going to be OK**."

Eri didn't know how long she stayed that way, grasping onto Itachi's back as though he were her lifeline. But eventually, fatigue took over. Her body could not take the exhaustion from crying so intensely, and eventually bent under the pressure.

Eri collapsed into sleep, her unyielding arms bringing Itachi down with her. The two held onto each other, two people rightfully adults in all but their bodies. And that was how Uchiha Mikoto found them, three hours later.

* * *

It's a relatively short chapter, but I promise the next one will be much longer. Reviews and critical feedback are always welcomed!


	9. Chapter 9

Thank you everyone for your support, reviews, follows and favs! I appreciate it a lot. This chapter is extra long, just for you lot.

Huge thank you for winteralley, as always.

* * *

Life independent from her parents was interesting. It wasn't unbearable, as she once had thought it would be. But it wasn't the most comfortable experience either. The things she used to take for granted, things she never had to think twice about were now things she became increasingly concerned about. She became hypersensitive to the Uchiha around her, who only tolerated her because she was an "honored guest" of Mikoto and stayed silent to Eri's stay. Otherwise, she herself would have had to wash her own laundry, cook her own food, and set her bedding every night; instead, the Uchiha did those things for her, biting their sarcastic tongues in the presence of their leader.

She didn't mind their bitter attitude. She understood she was an inconvenience, and tried to limit the amount of work she made for the others. She folded her clothes as best as she could, so that the others wouldn't have to; she swept the room with her mini-broom when she could. Mikoto was kind enough to take care of her while her parents were gone, so Eri didn't want her to have to deal with petty things like her clan members' jealousy.

Itachi, being the kind little boy that he was, seemed to recognize this fact just as quickly as she did, and tried to make her feel as comfortable as possible within his home. From the first day of her stay, Itachi suggested that they share a bedroom, so that Eri would not have to sleep alone. Mikoto ignored Eri's protest (and the general horror expressed by the other Uchihas), and with a wide smile, organized Itachi's room so the two could lay side by side at night.

When it was day and not night, the two spent their times reading books that Kushina had left with Mikoto on fuuinjutsu and Uzushiogakure. The fuuinjutsu books were at a level low enough for a beginner to understand their content, and Itachi was more than happy to explain difficult vocabulary to Eri. The initial part of their first book, which took the longest time for both Eri and Itachi to translate into layman speak, was mostly about physical and spiritual chakra, and how the two worked together to create the chakra that shinobi manipulated to use jutsus and make fuuinjutsu.

The books on Uzushiogakure included rare photos of the place, and Eri would pause on each page of the photographs for hours, trying to understand what it would've been like for her mother to grow up in such places.

The most frequent pictures in the books were of the people of Uzushio. They were always laughing, their mischievous eyes twinkling in the sunlight. More often than not, there were children in the background, running to or from something, their expressions open with happiness. Though the pictures were in black and white, Eri could tell by the gradation from black to grey to white that most of the people at Uzushio had light colored hair and fair skin.

The second most frequent pictures were ones of the sea surrounding the island. Eri could imaginethat the blue water surrounding the island would sparkle a rippled pattern in the day and reflect an endless abyss at night. The boundless sea was beautiful.

Itachi sat silently beside her during these times; she didn't know what exactly he was thinking, but she knew he was curious enough to examine the pictures with an intensity similar to hers. She was glad he was there next to her. She wanted to share this experience with someone, this acknowledgement that _these people are a part of my family_ ; _look at their smiles, and hear their laughter; they were once alive._

Occasionally, the two played outside, but they didn't make it a common occurrence. Though the two never admitted it to each other, they both knew the reason they tried to stay inside. As the war continued, day by day, the number of people who lost people precious to them grew, and the mourners tended to be loud and their voices terrifying. The anguished cries of pain and loss were something Eri didn't really want to hear so early in the morning, something she didn't want Itachi to be exposed to (she herself was familiar with it in a disgustingly intimate way; she didn't want to be familiar with it, though, not at all). So the two tried to stay inside as much as possible, where the buildings had been built so cool air could enter the rooms in the hottest of days.

The two were always together, and there were never others who joined them, not even the clan children. Mikoto and Itachi never explained to her why this was so, and Eri knew better than to ask. She figured it was about some kind of clan politics. So she was left with just Itachi, and she didn't mind this fact so much, seeing as he was easy to get along with and made great company. Besides, there wasn't anyone else she could meet; everyone on her father's team was on mini-missions. Eri knew the overprotective Uchiha matriarch would assign a horde of Uchihas to the two of them, and that Orochimaru would be disgusted (and somewhat offended) to have a group of suspicious Uchihas roaming around him, just so Eri could hang out with the man. So Eri remained quiet and stayed with Itachi.

Eri supposed she shouldn't have been so surprised when Mikoto sat the two down in front of her, her face stoic and closed, a couple of weeks after Eri had first entered the household. She knew Mikoto had been nervous and concerned about something for awhile, her aura contracted and tense, vibrating with an anxious energy only seen in people with bad news. Eri stayed quiet, sitting in sieza beside Itachi, who was just as quiet.

"I have received a letter from Fugaku that addresses something important," Mikoto began, her eyes knitting together into a frown. "About your training."

As excited as Eri was about getting stronger, shecouldn't help but feel doubt bloom within her chest. She was only a year and a couple months old. Sure, she could now eat with a seal-less spoon, draw accurate circles on paper, and pick up small things with her finger; but she was not going to be able to throw senbon or gut people with a kunai with her limited strength.

Apparently, Eri's face tended to be as open as those of the Uzushio children. Mikoto laughed, before reassuming her stoic expression. "Physical training won't start until later. Both you and Itachi will start with chakra training starting from tomorrow. I'm hoping Itachi can start his physical training as soon as he turns three, and you join him once you reach the same age."

Eri pursed her lips as she glanced at her friend, who remained impassive (he'd become a lot more quiet than he had once been, and Eri guiltily wondered if it was because of her). She turned back to Mikoto. "OK."

Mikoto beamed, and cleared her voice before declaring, "You may enter now, Kagami-san."

Eri's eyes widened in surprise as the door to the patio slid open. She had not sensed anyone behind the door; physical objects blocked the aura of others from her view. But aside from her limited seeing abilities, she hadn't heard anyone approach the door, even after Mikoto had settled herself in front of the previously distracted children.

A short man with short, bouncy curls exited the room and entered the patio, closing the door behind him. While the man had the typical Uchiha dark eyes and hair, Eri was intrigued by the friendly smile that was pasted across the man's face. She'd never seen an Uchiha smile so brightly before; even Mikoto smiled in a controlled, refined way. This man smiled like someone from Uzushio.

Eri watched like a hawk as the man limped across the huge patio and sat down diagonally from Eri and Itachi. She eyed his injury on his left leg, which was bandaged up tightly. His face was also adorned with scars, obviously from exposure to intense battles. He didn't seem a day over twenty (Eri didn't know what to do with the uncomfortable notion that Uchihas were much more handsome when they smiled). A warm red aura wrapped itself around the man.

"Hello," he beamed. "My name is Uchiha Kagami. I will be the one teaching the two of you for the next couple of weeks." Eri glanced at Itachi, who remained calm. Her friend seemed to be OK with Kagami, so Eri relaxed.

"Nice to meet you," Itachi said. "My name is Uchiha Itachi. I am grateful to make of your acquaintance." He bowed, bending the top half of his body and coming up slowly.

Eri copied him with less grace. "I'm Namikaze Eri."

"I will be at the Clan Administrative building," Mikoto stood. "You three get to know each other."

"Yes, Mikoto-sama," Kagami bowed deeply as Mikoto left (Eri always forgot her pseudo-mother was an important person, and was only reminded when the other Uchiha showed their respect towards Mikoto). The man turned to Itachi and Eri. "You two are kind of quiet, ne?" He shifted to sit in a more comfortable position once the door shut behind Mikoto, while the two children remained in their sieza.

"So! What do you two know about chakra?" He asked.

Eri paused, wondering if she should really say everything she knew. She shared a look with Itachi, who gave a mini shrug. It didn't go unnoticed by Kagami.

"Alright, Itachi-kun, I'd like you to sit farther along the patio with your back towards us. Eri-kun, I'd like you to sit on the opposite side with your back towards us as well."

Eri's lips tightened into a thin line once she realized what her new sensei was trying to attempt, but complied anyway. Once Eri sat with her back to the others, Itachi and Kagami were both beyond the scope of her vision. While she could feel the warmth of their auras, she couldn't see exactly what Itachi was feeling.

Eri heard the man boom, "I'll just direct this question to Eri-kun. What do you know about chakra?"

Eri decided it wouldn't hurt to tell the man everything she'd learnt (because she needed to get stronger, she needed to get stronger fast). She figured it'd be fair to just quote word-for-word from the fuuinjutsu books Itachi and she had studied from. "Chakra is a vital energy source that is needed for people in general to survive, which is generated through our chakra coils. We shinobi manipulate and transform the chakra within and around us in order to act out defensive and offensive techniques, such as jutsus or fuuinjutsu.

"Chakra is created by two forms of energy-spiritual and physical. As their names imply, the two forms of energy require a shinobi to be healthy in their physical body as well as their spiritual self. The spiritual form can—"

"OK. That's enough," Kagami interrupted. There was an uncomfortable silence, and Eri squirmed, so unused to her back being bare and exposed (no, no, _Eri_ was used to her back being bare and exposed. Whomever she'd been _before_ wasn't used to having her back exposed). "Hm. That was definitely a lot more than I thought you would know. I'm going to take a wild guess and say Itachi-kun is just as familiar with chakra as you are. Who taught you all of that?"

Itachi answered, "Eri's okaa-san left us with many books regarding fuuinjutsu. The basics of the book explained chakra and its usage in depth."

"I see," Kagami murmured. "Do you two have any practice with chakra?"

"No," Eri said as Itachi answered, "yes."

"Perfect!" Eri could basically hear Kagami's beam in his voice. "Then I know how to proceed with our classes. You may return to your seats now."

When Eri got up and walked back, she made sure to sit extra close to Itachi, just to see how Kagami would react. The man gave a slight frown. But Eri saw that he was not uncomfortable because she was not an Uchiha while Itachi was the Uchiha heir.

"Eri-kun, Itachi-kun," he began. "You shouldn't be so dependent on each other."

Eri merely raised her eyebrow.

"It _is_ important for Konoha shinobi to be reliant on each other, especially their teammates," Kagami conceded. "But shinobi should initially have some form of independence so they can work on their own skills and talents. Then, when they do join a team, they can use the skills that they developed by themselves to contribute to the team's success. Right now, you two are too dependent on the other. If you keep that up, we're going to have classes separately."

Eri made sure to inch away from Itachi at that statement, and noticed him do the same.

"Good," Kagami's eyes disappeared as the man smiled again. "For the rest of my visit, and until Mikoto-sama's return, we will meditate."

Eri's lips twitched in irritation, but she pressed them into a thin line. This was all for the sake of becoming stronger, for her parents (whom she missed so dearly, when were they coming, it was so lonely at night). So Eri shut up, closed her eyes, and remained still, attempting to become one with nature and everyone around her.

Her efforts lasted for a whole five minutes, much to the amusement of Kagami.

* * *

Let it never be said that toddlers cannot be trained, especially in the field of chakra. Uchiha Kagami oddly reminded Eri of her own father, what with their deceiving innocent exterior and demon-like interior. Kagami was merciless, driving Eri and Itachi to their very limits every practice, which lasted hours per day. Honestly, Eri could see how Itachi was so advanced in the anime. One would have to be a complete idiot to not improve under Kagami's watch.

Every day, Eri was forced to run up and down the patio. It was hilarious, honestly speaking. It should not have been so hard for her, considering the patio itself was only about ten meters in length. But for her to run all the way to one end, then back to the other end was difficult beyond imagination. She sweated heavily, and her face flushed bloody red by the end of her five laps (but she also found it ridiculous that she was so tired, because she used to be able to run miles without losing her breath). Apparently, Kagami was unsatisfied with her initial level of stamina (despite her being one year and a couple of months old, she might add), because he always timed her runs and pushed her to run faster than her last record from the day before. And this was just _warm up_.

Once she was finished with warming up, she had to stretch in ways that she hadn't known werepossible until that point. Her arms jutted out left and right, her legs bent in directions that made her feel uncomfortable just from watching them dangle in the air. But the stretches did feel good, pulling muscles she didn't know she had.

Then, Eri had to do a variety of jumping jacks and lunges. She didn't have to do any push ups or sit ups, because Kagami followed a weird logic regarding what children of her age could and couldn't do. But still, Eri had to do multiple jumping jacks and lunges before she could take a break and get a drink of water.

After that, Eri had to sit in her stinky sweat and meditate for _two hours_. Yes, that was right; Uchiha Kagami forced a year and four months old Namikaze Eri to sit on her butt and meditate for two hours. Because Eri had the tendency to fall asleep whenever she closed her eyes, she had a hard time actually meditating. But she quickly lost that habit of hers when Kagami gleefully flicked her forehead every time he noticed her fall asleep. She could never figure out how he knew when she was just on the brink of losing consciousness, since it wasn't like her upper body swayed or she started snoring. And she swore the man didn't know the meaning of mercy, as every flick he gave her left dark bruises on her forehead.

After meditation, Kagami instructed Eri to feel her chakra, and push it to her palms. In theory, it sounded easy. But it was in actuality difficult beyond measure. Sensing chakra was not like second nature to her; it was not as natural as breathing or seeing or listening. It was like trying to see through the back of her head: an impossible feat.

Even after a week of Kagami's instruction, Eri still hadn't managed to push her chakra to her palms. But Kagami didn't say anything about how slow she was (or about how Itachi had apparently managed to complete it on his first try). Instead, he patiently gave her more tips. Sometimes, he zapped her with his own chakra to help her recognize the feeling. But Eri did not like it when he helped in the latter manner, because it felt like she was cheating.

During her own training, she got to witness Itachi train in the yard beside the patio. And Eri saw just how much of a genius Itachi was; there was absolutely no doubt about it. Itachi only had to learn a concept once to understand it completely. Things that required more practical experience, like chakra control, took a bit more time for him to master. But still, it took him significantly less time than an average shinobi child.

In fact, Itachi had already mastered sticking leavesand sticks onto himself. Eri could see that Kagami was hesitant to start the tree-walking exercise with Itachi (since that would take a significant more amount of chakra to complete), so hecontinued to assign heavier objects with rougher textures for Itachi to stick to his hand. And, as expected, Itachi did well, needing to only try once or twice to manage it. Nothing seemed to be challenging for him, and it was reflected in the bored way he finished a lesson.

In the end, the only thing keeping Itachi back from being the true master he was were his physical limitations. If he had more chakra, he would've been permitted to learn the tree-walking exercise and the water-walking exercise.

There was something ugly and dark that grew in the pits of her stomach when she saw how easily he achieved something.

One day, a few weeks into her training, she had stopped her own stretching to watch him attack piles of sticks to himself, his eyes dull with boredom. But when he caught her eye from across the yard, he tensed, his aura coiling tightly around himself defensively. The next stone that Itachi added to his arms dropped as soon as he laid it on his arm, and the boy stood in silence, watching her and her reaction.

After a while, in which even Kagami stayed silent and watched the two, Eri finally frowned. "Don't do that," she scolded.

When Itachi took a step back, his aura created a wall around his chest. Eri rolled her eyes. "Don't fail on purpose, Itachi. I'm not stupid." Then, after a long pause, she added, "And I need you to be strong. I need you to be as strong as you can be. You slacking off won't make you strong."

Itachi looked uncertain, and Eri watched in amusement as she recognized how nervous he was. "I'm not going to hate you just because you're so much better than me." She tapped her chin with her index finger in a familiar rhythm (of _hut-two hut-three_ ). "Well, I did feel jealous, I'll admit. But that's OK. Jealousy is OK. Hatred isn't."

She turned back to Kagami expectantly. "You should teach him how to tree-walk now. He's running out of things to stick to him, and you're only holding him back at this point."

With that, she returned to her stretches, avoiding the surprised gaze of the two Uchihas.

Yes, Eri was jealous. She wished she had Itachi's talent and penchant for picking things up immediately and mastering them. If she had Itachi's skills, she'd definitely be able to prevent her parents' death. And yet, here she was, incapable of even expanding her chakra from her coils to her palms.

But she didn't hate him. Itachi deserved whatever skill he acquired, because he put in a lot of effort to learn the techniques. He never slacked off. He never approached lessons half-heartedly, even if he got bored mid-way. (Plus, Eri had a feeling that Itachi was constantly expecting her to reject him just because she was jealous, and that really pissed her off; as if something so petty would destroy their friendship).

Kagami did teach Itachi how to tree-walk, but only after Itachi turned three years old. At this point, both Eri and Itachi had gotten used to Kagami's harsh training, which only increased in intensity as the days passed. Now, Eri ran more than twenty laps around the patio, and began sit ups and push ups.

Eri was also more conscious about Kagami, watching the way the man walked with the ease of a feline cat, a hunter of his own right. When he walked in the house or in the yard, he made no noise, no indication of his movement or trail of his walk. His posture was excellent, straight and balanced.

And Eri always was startled by the man's open and honest smile. As much as she liked to think his innocent smile was deceptive, there was a significant portion of it that was genuinely honest and sincere. She felt something clench whenever she saw that kind of openness, and she didn't know what to do about it.

On a separate note, Eri was pleased to see Itachi was challenged by the task of tree-walking. She knew he would need something to focus on, something to challenge him at least some point in his training.

Itachi would stare at a tree, with his palm against its thin bark, and stretch out his chakra to penetrate the tree. He would then attempt to stick to it in all forms and manners, and once he was successful, he tried to climb it. But he was always out of breath after a mere five minutes. Eri didn't blame him. A three year old had physical limitations that he couldn't just push past through mere will power, after all.

It was also around this time that Eri finally learned to expand chakra to points in her body.

The three were outside, since the weather had taken a turn for the better and warmed. The air was fresh with the smell of grass. A plate of sliced apples was off to the side, left untouched as both students were immersed in their training. Itachi was by the tree in the garden with Kagami, his hand placed against the bark of the tree, the one with the thickest and most rough bark amongst the many in the yard.

Eri was in a very content state. She'd received a letter from her kaa-chan earlier in the morning, so nothing could bring her down from her happiness (even Kagami's cruel training didn't faze her). When she thought of her parents, fighting for her, her heart clenched; but there was also something warm that spread in her stomach, a kind of pride.

It was then that she noticed something else that mingled inside her. She mentally imagined the energy as being a ball, as Kagami had instructed, and imagined the ball being elastic and soft. Once the warm ball was changed, Eri imagined it being stretched, like a string of melted cheese, from the center of her body, to her hand.

When she felt the warmth on the palm of her hands, Eri's eyes widened in shock and surprise. Her mouth gaped as she finally felt _something_ in her hands. When her eyes turned to Kagami and Itachi, she saw they, too, were proud of her achievement.

Itachi had the biggest smile out of the three of them.

Dinner never tasted so great before, and though Kagami scolded her for passing out from chakra exhaustion, Eri still continued to stretch her chakra from her solar plexus to different parts of her body. Only after Itachi warned her in a gentle voice about how chakra exhaustion could be fatal, did Eri finally recede her chakra back in, and allowed sleep to dominate over her.

Training resumed for the two.

Eri noticed how much more easily Kagami walked, and realized he was slowly healing. She didn't know how to feel about the fact that the man would leave the two once he was fully healed, so he could join the active forces on the battlefield. She didn't want him to leave, but couldn't bring herself to tell him to stay. He was a Konoha shinobi, she realized; he would rather die than to not work for the sake of the village.

But he was also her sensei, her very first sensei (despite what Orochimaru had said, he hadn't actually taught her anything). He also could read her like an open book, reassuring her when she thought she was failing in everything, and when she was worried about Itachi's development.

True to his word, Kagami only trained Itachi and Eri for a few months before leaving as soon as his injury was healed. His declaration to the two came unexpectedly.

Itachi stood by the pond in the yard, attempting to finally walk on water. Eri was off to the side, attempting to extend her chakra to somewhere beyond the limitations of her own skin. She held rocks and sticks near her, trying to stick them to herself.

"Eri, Itachi," Kagami called.

When Eri looked up, and saw how rigid his form was, she felt her heart accelerate in beating. She frowned, and dropped what she was doing to toddle over to Kagami. He gave her a brief, short smile that was so bittersweet Eri was taken back by it.

"As you know, my original duty was to train you two for several weeks," he began. "It has now been three months. And my fractured leg is fully healed. It is time for me to fulfill my duty as a proud shinobi of Konoha to return to the battlefield."

Eri felt herself shake, and her eyes swell with tears. Itachi slipped his hands into her own, and she clenched onto his tightly. "But… But why? Our training isn't over yet."

Kagami gave Eri a bright smile, and patted her head. "Sorry, Eri-chan. Konoha is not doing very well, and as someone who has a fully developed Sharingan, it's kind of imperative that I be on the front lines. The only reason I was excused to heal in Konoha is because my injury got really infected. And also because I'm Fugaku-san's cousin."

Eri shook her head. "But… But—"

Itachi bowed, tugging Eri down with him. "Thank you for everything, Kagami-sensei." He rose, dragging Eri up with him. "Please return home safely."

Eri clenched her teeth, unwilling to allow Kagami to leave (because not him, not him too; everyone was leaving and she'd be all alone).

Kagami inhaled deeply, and his exhale came in the form of a sigh. He entered the room and pulled out two boxes, handing one to each of them. "These are my farewell gifts. I made them myself."

With shaking hands, Eri opened the gift and marvelled at the smoothly cut wooden kunai. "Ah… Thank you." She looked up, clenching the boxes against her chest. "Thank you, Kagami-sensei."

And then he'd left the next day, without any further ado. Because that was what war was, something abrupt, something that took away those precious to you, something that forced you to be concerned about everyone you loved, wondering if they would live to return home. The two were left to practice only what they'd learned from him.

The days felt empty without the man— her sensei, as she had begun calling him. So Itachi and Eri continued as they always had with Kagami; she ran laps with Itachi, though Itachi ran double her distance in half her time; she stretched with Itachi; and Itachi walked across the pond in the yard as Eri focused on sticking stones and sticks to her body.

But it was different without an instructor, who hid behind a deceiving kind smile. They didn't know when they'd made a mistake, and relied on the other to point out simple things, like _Eri, you have to pile the stones on top of the other_ , and _Itachi, your feet are a little submerged in the water._ The days became quieter, too, without the loud and cheerful voice of Kagami. And Eri did not know what to do with the fact that she now had one more person she was worried about, one more person she had nightmares for, who would get pierced in the back with a sword, or stabbed in the throat with a kunai in her dreams.

So Eri tried to distract herself from her worry by watching the things around her, as she was now. She knew Mikoto was getting worried that Eri was withdrawing into herself. It was understandable, after all; Eri talked less around Mikoto. But she was still as friendly as ever, if not more, with Itachi. And that was enough for Eri.

* * *

"Eri, come back inside. It's cold."

She stayed silent. It was not that cold, really. Though the air was a bit chilly, there was no wind to carry it, transform it into something more vicious. Besides, Eri was bundled up in a warm blanket, which kept the cold air away from her, and was seated on the patio, not completely in the garden. The warmth of the room behind her kept her cozy in the blanket. It was not cold.

She eyed one snowflake that fluttered, swinging left and right as it drifted from the sky. It collided with several others, then landed, slow and gentle, onto the frozen koi pond. A pile of snow had already collected along the border of the pond. Eri wondered how thick the layer of ice was. It was her first time seeing snow in Konoha (and apparently, snow itself was quite rare in Fire Country).

She heard Itachi's footsteps approach her, which she ignored, until he sat down beside her. When she glanced down, she saw he had placed a plate of dango between the two; long, wooden sticks penetrated several of the dango to keep them in place. She reached down and picked up a stick and ate, side-by-side with the silent Itachi.

Sitting on the balcony, when she saw how quickly her breath fogged up, Eri opened up the left side of her blanket. On cue, Itachi slid in, and Eri lowered the blanket over him. Now, Itachi would not be cold as well. The two were silent.

"Okaa-sama wants you to go inside soon," Itachi said first.

Eri gazed at the old fence across from her. They were bound together in two groups, with an Uchiha fan painted on every other group. To Eri, the amount of pride that the Uchihas exuded was so great, it was almost tangible.

"How about we clean the room up together?" Itachi asked.

Eri frowned. That was a low blow by Itachi. To be honest, it had been awhile since she'd last cleaned up her room. In fact, in the last couple of days, her clothes adorned the floor of her side of the room, and her mother's books were piled messily. But she still didn't want to get up, so she ignored Itachi for the umpteenth time that day, and continued to count the snowflakes falling in the garden.

Itachi did not sigh. He did not show signs of discontent. He merely snuggled in closer to Eri, and kept quiet with her. Eri found that she loved this part of him, which allowed her personal space and time when he really knew she needed it. Lately, he never forced anything onto her, no matter how much his mother tried to use him as a middle man. He would ask verbally, then seemingly give up. Then he would join her in her meditation, in her succumbing to the general silence around her.

The two children stiffened when they heard light, but fast, thumps down the hallway heading towards their room. When the door to the room slid open, Eri sighed, preparing herself for Mikoto's scolding. But instead of a cold, warning voice penetrating the room, something light landed on the top of her head, and when she looked up, she saw it was a small scroll.

Eri barely saw Mikoto's soft smile behind the scroll as she scrambled up to receive and open it. She lowered it so Itachi could read as well (she didn't mind if he knew what her parents wrote to her; she trusted him).

"My Eri," she read aloud, the tips of her mouth curling just a little at those words. "I'm sorry I'm writing so late. It has been almost a month since my last letter, hasn't it? From the way the clouds were moving, I'm guessing it is snowing in Konoha— look, Itachi, tou-chan knew!"

At Itachi's encouraging smile, Eri continued. "I can't tell you where I am now, nor what I'm doing, but I want you to know I always think of you. I saw a group of children the other day, and one even had the same name as you. I miss you a lot.

"I hope Mikoto-san hasn't been spoiling you. I'm sure you are listening to her and following directions. Have you been eating properly? I wonder how much you've grown in the last year, since the last time we saw each other was a little more than a year ago. How about you measure your new height, and tell me in your letter?

"I will write to you again when I have the time. For now, I have to get going. Your father, Minato."

Eri's smile faltered when she flipped the scroll over to find a blank page. When she looked up at Mikoto, her smile vanished completely, and she wordlessly folded the scroll into a little square, tucking it into her pocket.

"He didn't say when he would be returning," she mumbled.

Mikoto raised a hand as though to pat Eri's head, but Eri pushed past her into the room. It wasn't fair of her to treat Mikoto like this, she knew, but… She waited one month for either of her parents to reply to her, and _this_ was it? Was he really so busy that he couldn't write to her?

Then, Eri felt immense guilt tug at the bottom of her stomach. Of course he was busy. He was fighting off shinobi so she could be safe in the village. So Itachi and Mikoto and the other grumpy Uchiha and everyone else in the village could be safe.

With a deep breath, Eri turned around and beamed at Mikoto. "It's OK. I'm sure he'll be home soon." She turned to Itachi, her cheeks hurting from how hard she was pulling at them with her smile. "C'mon, Ita-kun. Let's clean up the room."

Mikoto and Itachi shared the same unconvinced look (and Eri would've laughed had she been in any other state of mind). But Itachi joined her in organizing her things, sweeping the floor, and resetting the books. Mikoto left, probably to tell the clan elders that "No, we cannot bring back just the Uchiha shinobi from the war" and "Yes, Itachi will be joining the academy later, but not now" and "Fugaku will return when the war has settled,"then regulate the clan spendings and observe the Uchiha markets and everything else that the other Uchiha were apparently too incompetent to do by themselves.

"It will end," Itachi said, twenty minutes into the quiet cleaning of their room and startling Eri.

Eri paused her dusting, and lowered her eyes. "I know."

* * *

_Screams._

_Smoke rises in the far east of the city, and she watches as the building diagonal to her bursts outwards, surrounded by a wall of flames. People in ragged clothes, both civilians and soldiers, run aimlessly, trying to find a safe place in this warzone. The unfortunate ones have buildings collapse around them and boulders fall and break and shatter their legs; the fortunate ones slump down like rag dolls as her team shoots at them._

_Shoot, shoot, shoot._

Allah, Allah. Praise Allah.

_The first time she tries to stop her team from killing civilians, her captain uses the butt of his gun to hit her across her face. She flies onto the ground, her temples pounding and blood dripping down the side of her face and collecting in a puddle below her face. Her eyes spin, and the boots that appear in her vision are blurred._

_"Your father would be disappointed in you," her captain says. "Get up."_

God save them all.

_So the next time her team and she arrive at a little Afghan village, she wordlessly shoots everyone, from the grandparents to the parents to the sons and daughters._

Eri wondered if Itachi ever regretted sharing a room with her. Because the day he decided to share his room was the his first day of many sleepless nights, always being woken up in the middle of the night by Namikaze Eri's nightmares. They had been rare in the beginning, and had only started when her parents had left. But they'd worsened over time, especially after Kagami-sensei had left for the war. Eri didn't know what to do about it, these horrifying, haunting dreams that she'd forget once she woke up.

So she stayed as quiet as she could, and bit her tongue when she awoke from her nightmares.

Somehow, Itachi woke up anyways, no matter how hard she tried to remain silent, and settled in next to her in her futon. He soothed her, his fingers running through her now-longer hair. Eri fell asleep with his short, stubby arms around her, every night.


	10. Chapter 10

Hellloh everyone. I apologize for the late chapter. This week and last week were incredibly hectic; I had a lot of exams that I needed to study for and take. Next week will be similar. I'll try to update asap, but I can't guarantee it'll be on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Also, please keep in mind that there's a limit to which Eri can see. A baby is not going to be allowed on the battlefield, or in important meetings, or be allowed to go into a hospital filled with dying people. That means a lot of character development will occur with or without Eri's presence. Please also note that Eri is currently living with a very well-off family, and so is unlikely to be exposed to the horrors that most civilians face at times of war.

I am still not sure as to whether I am going to follow the plotline in Itachi Shinden. I'm a bit hesitant to follow it, what with the debate on whether it even is a part of Canon or not. Plus, it'd be kind of boring to just repeat what happens. I guess we'll just wait and see.

A huge thank you to my beta winteralley, who found the time to edit this chapter despite being super busy with work!

* * *

When Eri turned two, Mikoto set up target posts for her in the Uchiha's backyard. Eri was quite touched. The Uchiha matriarch had "tainted" (as the other Uchiha put it) her own home for Eri's sake. There were other training compounds around in the village, but those were off-limits to anyone with a clearance level lower than a chuunin. With the posts in the house's backyard, Eri and Itachi could practice using the wooden kunai that Kagami-sensei had left for them.

Itachi painted a picture for her. In the picture, the two of them stood in the middle of a green meadow, one filled with pink lilacs and yellow daisies. They faced a large, dark forest before them, their backs to the audience. Eri could spy some birds in the background, flying in the clear, blue sky. A deep ocean encompassed the land to the children's right, sparkling and glistening under the morning sun. Eri was sure Itachi had imagined the entire scene, because Konoha had no such ocean surrounding it. When asked, Itachi merely shrugged and said, "Uzushio."

Itachi was a gifted painter, and Eri realized he would've been the next Leonardo Da Vinci had he been born elsewhere in another world. He excelled in everything he was exposed to, whether he learned it by himself or was taught by others. It seemed he was quick to understand the rules of the activities faster than any other child. He could manipulate factors of problems to come to conclusions, and stack toy blocks up in the most stable way. (Eri got silent satisfaction from the fact that he couldn't write a decent haiku; neither could she, but that wasn't her point).

But Eri could see herself improve too. She had nothing to do but read her mother's gifts repeatedly, so she eventually memorized all the content within the books. In fact, she could recite most of the lines in the books verbatim. Itachi and Eri never actually practiced any of the fuuinjutsu taught in the books, though, because they didn't have anyone to teach them. The theory, on the other hand, the two understood in and out.

A few days after Eri's birthday, Mikoto gave her permission to leave the Uchiha compound on one condition: the person supervising Eri had to check in with Mikoto, and let her know when Eri would be brought back home. Mikoto was allowing a great concession, giving permission to a stranger to enter the compound and approach her ward and her child. In turn, Eri promised she would make contact with and follow whomever she desired only after Mikoto's permission.

And that was how Orochimaru ended up standing in the lobby of the Uchiha compound, his slitted eyes curious but cautious. Though his body was relaxed and stance without anxiety, he was uncomfortable, being surrounded by a group of (famously) hostile shinobi. But he held his poker face well. The only reason Eri knew the truth was because she had the unfair advantage of being able to see his aura.

"Orocchin!" Eri grinned as she ran up to him and hugged his leg. "I missed you a lot!" It'd been more than a year since the last time she'd seen him. His yellow, glowering eyes were a delight to see again.

She felt cold hands reach under her arm and pull her up into a firm hold. "You've grown quite tall, child. I _am_ glad to see your speaking skills have improved significantly, seeing as you now speak in full sentences." She reached out to lay a hand on Orochimaru's cheek, her eyes roaming over his features (would he also go out to war, like her parents?).

"Orochimaru-sama," Itachi's voice rang from behind her. "It is nice to meet you. I thank you for your time and efforts to look after us."

"It seems at least one child in the room is familiar with proper greeting etiquette. But no need to be too concerned. I would not be here were I someone who found things like this to be bothersome," Orochimaru said as he lowered Eri back onto her feet.

"No, Itachi is right, Orochimaru-sama," Mikoto called out as well. "I am also very thankful that you are willing to look after the two, even if it's just for a while."

Eri watched Orochimaru subtly shift his weight from one leg to the other, and stifled a laugh. He was clearly not used to the genuine, kind tone that the two Uchihas were affecting. "I… It's of no real concern." He glanced at Eri. "Are the two of you prepared to leave the compound?"

Eri nodded, and patted her backpack strap. "Yes."

Itachi walked over to the entrance of his house, and put on his shoes. He turned to his mother, and bowed. "Okaa-san, we will be back soon."

Orochimaru laid a hand on the top of Eri's head. "Mikoto-san, I'll be sure to bring the two children back before the sun sets completely."

Eri reached over to clutch at the fabric of the man's kimono, and bowed to Mikoto. "Thank you, Mikoto-san, for letting us leave. We will be back home soon."

Mikoto smiled at the two, and Eri watched her aura relax. "No worries. Be safe, and don't trouble Orochimaru-sama too much."

"Yes," Eri and Itachi answered.

The trio left the compound, trailing after Orochimaru, whose steps were long in length. He did not slow down for the two, and resumed his normal speed. Eri was grateful; she found Mikoto's babying of her and Itachi to be suffocating, which had intensified especially after Kagami-sensei had left. Having someone expect her to reach a standard and excel, was cathartic for Eri, even if it was something as simple as walking fast.

Surprisingly, the trio did not head towards Konoha general hospital, straying away from the main path. When Orochimaru caught Eri's confused look, he answered with a masked expression, "The hospital is overflowing with injured shinobi. My office was moved to make more space for the patients, since their recovery is more important than research at the present moment."

Orochimaru led the group towards a building near the Administration center, and climbed up the stairs to the second floor. Eri clambered into the second to last room in the hallway after the Sannin and Itachi. Once in Orochimaru's office, she laid her bag on the first couch she saw. The room was bright, with several windows lined along the wall.

Orochimaru's new office was not unlike the one before, albeit a little smaller. It was filled with rows of long tables, covered with test tubes and experiments. His desk was crammed into the corner (in the safest part of the room, Eri noticed). And as usual, his desk was organized and set without a single piece of paper out of place. There were two sets of couches that were turned to face one another in the left corner of the room. Eri didn't understand why Orochimaru bothered to make space for visitors, seeing as he was such an antisocial bastard, but was grateful for the space anyhow.

Itachi too scanned the room, his eyes lingering on the test tubes with such blatant curiosity that Eri laughed. The two turned to Orochimaru, who had discarded his long jacket on the couch and was shuffling through the reports on his paper.

"I don't know what exactly you were expecting," he began. "But know that I cannot spare the time to entertain you two the entire time today. I'm quite sure I've found the answer through the experiments I've done so far, but I will still be busy and silent for most of today's visit."

"That's OK," Eri conceded, then pointed to the bookshelves on the opposite side of the room. "Can we read those?"

Orochimaru cocked his eyebrows. "You may, but _can_ you?"

Eri headed towards the bookshelves, tugging Itachi with her. "I think it should be OK, since we finished all the books kaa-san left for us on fuuinjutsu and Uzushiogakure."

Orochimaru turned to look at them, as though he were seeing them in a new light. " _All_ the books from Kushina? Well, I have to say, that is quite impressive for children your age. In that case, the books there should be appropriate for the two of you."

Eri nudged Itachi, encouraging him to choose the one that interested him. She scanned the bookshelf, looking for anything interesting to read. She paused when she found _How to Raise Your Child to Be the Best Shinobi_ and _Understanding Your Child_ , both of which were apparently the top best sellers at Konoha's main bookstore. Eri moved on, figuring it was just another one of Orochimaru's quirks, and settled for _Fuuinjutsu: the Art of Chakra._ When she turned to see what Itachi had chosen, she wasn't surprised to see he had landed on a book not unlike hers. They grinned at each other, before returning to their seats on the couch.

The three remained that way, with Orochimaru inspecting his vials and rapidly jotting observations down on his notepad, and Eri and Itachi silently reading their books.

It appeared Eri's mother was right (unsurprisingly). Fuuinjutsu served as both a command center and a map for chakra to follow, without constant assistance from the creator. It was like a computer program that forced a jutsu to be carried out in precise times with a specified amount of power. Every word written on a seal was important, crucial to the success of the seal.

Two hours later (of Eri asking Itachi the meaning of difficult kanji), Orochimaru let out a relieved sigh, and dropped his notepad on the table. "Finally, I understand."

Eri glanced at Orochimaru, and vaguely noticed Itachi close his book from the corner of her eye. "Did you solve it?"

"Yes," the tips of Orochimaru's smile curled, arrogance clouding his expression. "It took much longer than I expected, but I have reached the final conclusion. The genes injected into the children soldiers actually had similar patterns within their DNA. Initially, I thought this was because whatever Iwa had injected into the soldiers was created through the same mold of primary patterns. I was off by a tiny mark: the genes are actually from the people of the same clan."

Eri snorted at the 'tiny', but otherwise kept her opinions to herself when Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

"As I was saying before you interrupted me in such an indignified manner, the genes injected into child soldiers are actually from a clan of people. Originally, I'd thought the children had mutated in their ways because they were not cultivated to actively host the genes that were injected within them. In one way, I was right; because the children were _not_ from the clan that I discovered, they did not have the right DNA code within themselves to control the distortions created within their body.

But the distortions that do occur in the _clan_ members are because of an entirely separate reason: they have the innate ability to absorb natural energy from their surroundings. This spurs on their clan abilities, which is to distort their physical appearance in whichever manner they desire through the internal secretion of a very complex fluid. The only problem with this is that the clan members themselves also lack the necessary DNA component to control the influx of natural energy, and the way the incoming natural energy influences their chakra coils. As a result, their levels of testosterone increase dramatically, forcing the clan members— and the soldiers with injected DNA— to become aggressive to the point of insanity," Orochimaru declared.

Eri nodded slowly. "That makes sense."

"So everything is already encoded within the clan members' genes?" Itachi asked.

"Precisely, Itachi-kun," a smug grin spread across Orochimaru's lips. "And I know how to reverse the effect."

"Eh?" Eri frowned. "Already?"

"Of course, child. Who do you think I am?" He scoffed.

"The one and only Great Snake Sannin and renowned genius, Orochimaru-sama, of course," Eri made sure sarcasm dripped from every word she said. She allowed herself a smile when she noticed Itachi was giggling.

"I would never introduce myself in such a gaudy manner," Orochimaru's auras recoiled in horror. "What a Jiraiya-like introduction."

"Pre _cise_ ly." She paused, digesting what Orochimaru had told her. "So, how are you going to reverse the effects?"

Orochimaru gave her a predatory grin. "By using fuuinjutsu of course." His smile faltered a little. "It sounds easy theoretically speaking, but I'd have to isolate the genes of the clansmen, and then force the reversal of the natural energy absorption process. I have the first part of the steps down, since I already made the relevant seal with your mother. But I'd have to create a new seal from scratch to meet the requirements of the latter half."

"Sounds tough," Eri winced, imagining the amount of work necessary to complete the seal. "But… Natural energy, ne…"

"What is it?" Orochimaru asked, stacking up his notes and settling them on his desk.

Eri paused, wondering if she should inform Orochimaru about the auras. Then again, it wasn't like she'd always have someone like Orochimaru at her disposal to help her understand the auras.

"The truth is," she began. "I see things."

Orochimaru merely raised an eyebrow as he leaned against the wall.

"Like, say, how people are feeling. It's a very strange experience— "

"Namikaze," Orochimaru interrupted. "Repeat the first phrase."

"... I… can see how people are feeling?"

The Snake Sannin strode over to her. He ignored how Itachi tensed.

"Yes, that— how can you see other people's emotions?" Orochimaru picked Eri up. "Is this a Namikaze or an Uzumaki kekkei genkai?" He flipped her over, examining her back. "But the Namikaze family members were typically civilians, most of whom were killed in the first Shinobi War. The Uzumaki _have_ been known to be extremely sensitive to chakra, which helped with their manipulation of chakra and advanced fuuinjutsu; but _seeing_ other people's emotions is something entirely different, like a dojutsu—"

Eri figured enough was enough when he reached for her legs to hold her upside down. "Orocchin!" she yelled. "Stop. Let me down."

Eri watched in amusement as Orochimaru's aura tensed, and solidified heavily. He gently laid her back down on the couch, and looked away, unwilling to meet her eyes. "I— that was not— "

"It's OK," Eri rolled her eyes. "I understand. Me seeing people's emotions is really cool." She tried to meet Orochimaru's eyes. "I'll let you examine me properly if you want, with blood tests and all that, if you want."

Orochimaru let out a sigh that Eri hadn't realized he'd been holding. "You really can see people's emotions." He finally looked her in the eye. "Can you not turn it off? How is it controlled?"

"It's like a mist that surrounds people," Eri explained. "You and Itachi have green auras. A little different from normal, but pretty nonetheless."

"Different from normal?" Orochimaru questioned.

"No, no, not _normal_ normal. Like… trees! And grass. And butterflies. _That_ kind of normal," Eri corrected.

"So you mean _nature_ ," Orochimaru fixed.

"Yeah. Nature is green too, but more… dense. Thick, in a way? It doesn't move around a lot like other people's auras do," Eri stared at the man's aura as it twisted and curled like a curious snake. "All auras move and shake and vibrate when the people are feeling something."

"If you can see the 'aura' of nature, then it probably doesn't mean it's directly related to emotions," Orochimaru frowned. "In fact, it sounds more like you're capable of seeing the people's spiritual chakra and the natural energy of your environment."

She turned to glance at Itachi. "Actually, that makes a lot of sense. But the auras don't move when people use jutsus or do fuuinjutsu."

"That's probably because you're only seeing half of the full chakra that people use when doing those things; remember, both the physical and spiritual parts of chakra are needed for people to use jutsus. Now, you said mine, Itachi-kun's, and nature's colors are green. Does that mean other people have different colors?"

Eri tapped her chin. "Kaa-chan is pink and red, tou-chan is blue… Jiji is brown, Mikoto-san is blue, Fu-kun is a little purple. Bakashi is white, Rin is green— like you— and Obito is red."

"Is there a pattern or reason to people's colors?" the Snake Sannin inquired, leaning against the wall behind him.

"Calm people are blue," Eri admitted. "People full of energy or anger are red. People who are secretive are white. People's colors are always mixed." She looked straight into her friend's eyes. "The nicest and most _human_ people... are green."

"Human," Orochimaru repeated, before clearing his voice and laughing. "That doesn't—"

"Stop being such a tsundere," Eri rolled her eyes. "The aura never lies."

"Never is an absolute term that you should hesitate to use when applied to concepts and theories," Orochimaru scolded. "Though this revelation does explain a lot, including your extremely creepy ability to react with great sensitivity to the emotions of others. I'm not quite sure from which side of the family you'd inherit this ability from, though your mother is the more likely candidate, seeing as your father is insensitive to the emotions and desires of others."

"Why do you hate him so much?" Eri shot, and ignored the gentle hand that Itachi laid on her back.

Orochimaru's lips twisted, and he snarled. "He's the reason I'm stuck here in Konoha." Eri gave him a that-doesn't-explain-anything face (one that she often used on Itachi). He inhaled, then released his shaky breath (he was surprisingly good at calming his raging emotions, Eri noted with surprise, watching his violent aura stifle with just his one breath).

"With Tsunade off the front lines and Jiraiya constantly away from Konoha, I had to join other teams to fight on the front-lines, or for intel-gathering. But it seems my _comrades_ —" he spat out the last word "- didn't feel the need to protect my back as I protected theirs. I have literally been stabbed in the back by enemy nin more than seven times now, despite having my pseudo-teammates be on the lookout. I've had to crawl back to watch towers or comrade campsites because no one came back to check on me more than just once."

He took a breath to collect himself. "But I was used to that," he admitted. "Not everyone is as welcoming to me as you and your strange mother are. I've… That's why I've always been with Jiraiya and Tsunade. But when I happened to be on the same team as your father, he saw how the others were treating me, and became enraged. He told Jiraiya and Tsunade _and_ Sarutobi-sensei." His lips pressed into a tight line. "From then onwards, I've been forced to stay in Konoha, where I'll be _safe_. One of the Sannin, cowering in his village because of his own _comrades_ are threats to his life. How pathetic."

Eri opened her mouth, but couldn't find the words she wanted to say. Sure, she'd known the Konoha population was generally afraid of Orochimaru (and her mother), but she hadn't known it was to this extent. "I don't think it's pathetic that you have to stay here. I want you alive, not dead, after all. Besides, we became friends because you stayed back." She flashed him a grin. "I'd say that's enough to make up for not being out on the battlefield. Though my tou-chan _was_ kind of an ass to force you to stay."

Orochimaru's aura relaxed slightly. "It's not your father who's forcing me to stay, but Sarutobi-sensei. I'd never be forced by your father to do anything, in truth."

Eri rolled her eyes at his arrogance. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

"Orochimaru-sama," Itachi called out. "I apologize for changing the topic, but regarding the seal that you mentioned… Are you going to make it yourself?"

"Of course," Orochimaru huffed. "Though it won't be an easy feat, especially with all of Konoha's fuuinjutsu masters away. Nonetheless, I should be able to make at least a prototype and tweak it a bit so that it will only need a little modification by the others to be completed."

Eri and Itachi shared an awed look. They knew from the books that they'd read just how difficult Orochimaru's job would be; the man was making it seem a lot easier than it actually would be.

"And… you are done with your current research, yes?" Itachi continued.

Orochimaru crossed his arms. "Get to the point, child."

"If you do have time and are willing, would you mind teaching Eri and me more about fuuinjutsu?" He asked. Eri blinked, staring at Itachi in surprise. It was quite unusual of him to reach out for help first; it was typically offered _to_ him _by_ eager teachers.

Orochimaru hmm-ed and haw-ed, and was about to say something until Eri interrupted, "Yeah! You promised you would be my sensei, ne? It's just we didn't have the chance, ne? Neee?"

"I remember the promise," Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "In fact, it was exactly what I was going to mention until you interrupted me so rudely. I will be fine with that, but would the Uchiha clan be OK with their heir receiving education from someone outside the clan?"

Itachi hesitated, before bowing. "I, Uchiha Itachi and heir to the Uchiha clan, would be honored to receive training from you, Orochimaru-sama." He rose. "I'm sure my parents would feel the same."

Orochimaru looked from Itachi to Eri, and took reluctant steps towards them. "Hmph. All right. Then I suppose I could teach you a bit of fuuinjutsu on the side while I finish up my report. What do you two know so far?"

"We understand chakra is made up of two components, and that they work together so that jutsus and fuuinjutsu can function. The theory of fuuinjutsu, we're also familiar with," Itachi answered.

Orochimaru cocked his eyebrow. "Oh? How familiar?"

"Relatively familiar," Eri grinned. "Fuuinjutsu is using written words or symbols to guide chakra to move in a specified way similar to that of hand signs, so that an effect can take place according to what the creator wanted."

"That's a good simplified version," Orochimaru nodded. He laid his hand on his chin. "But you two have no practical experience with it, no?"

Both Eri and Itachi shook their heads. The Snake Sannin sighed. "Can you two even hold up a brush? I remember Eri—"

"That was a _year_ ago," she flushed, and laid a hand on her hips. "I can do it now!"

"Of course," his voice as dry as the Suna desert, Orochimaru rummaged around several of his drawers. "Seeing as you two are familiar with the theory of fuuinjutsu, I'm sure you are well aware of what is most important when creating stable, strong seals, yes?"

Eri and Itachi exchanged glances.

"Perfect chakra control?" Itachi offered.

"Creativity?" Eri supplied.

When Orochimaru turned back to them, both children blushed at his amused expression. The Snake Sannin placed stacks of blank paper, two brushes, and two ink plates on the coffee table.

"Calligraphy," Orochimaru snickered.

Eri groaned. "But—"

"Calligraphy is most important to fuuinjutsu," Orochimaru interrupted. "Just as the sequence and shape of hand seals are important to performing jutsus. The thickness of the lines, the shape and placing of kanji on the seal-all are unbearably important things. Balance, equality: the two most fundamental parts of the theory of fuuinjutsu. Can you tell me why?"

"Allowing chakra to run through seals requires really strong boundaries?" Itachi guessed.

Eri didn't need to inspect Orochimaru's aura to see he was genuinely surprised. "Yes. Balance and neutrality are strict in nature; to be bound by it means to have no path of escape. In the case of a fuuinjutsu master, that is a good thing."

Eri and Itachi nodded along as Orochimaru continued, "So you can see how calligraphy will ultimately act as the physical form of balance and neutrality. The ink, mixed with the fuuinjutsu master's blood, will allow the master's chakra to flow through the seal more easily and in a more controlled manner; this is why complicated seals must be created by the user herself. Simple seals that require just a tiny bit of chakra-like explosion seals-don't need such special care. The thickness of the brush strokes determines how much chakra will flow; the words written dictate in which direction and for what purpose the chakra will flow through the seal; and the length, the content, and the organization of the seals-all determined by the seals' calligraphy-dictate the effects of the seal."

The Snake Sannin laid the ink platter and brush before the two children. "And that is why for the next couple of weeks, you will be training in the art of calligraphy."

Eri and Itachi turned to look at each other, both faces painted with grief. (Perhaps running laps wasn't so bad after all).


End file.
